


part one - new friends

by stage4poison



Series: Summertime [1]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:53:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 38,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27871842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stage4poison/pseuds/stage4poison
Summary: a misfits concert that changed two men's lives for the better will lead to a summer full of breakups, coming out, confusion, love, and a shit ton of moving in and out of apartments for poor frankie, and all in that order!
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Series: Summertime [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2040594
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. part one - new friends

"Hey!" I heard over the music the opening band was playing, and a tap on my shoulder. I flinched away from it immediately, acutely aware of my surroundings. Being alone at a Misfits concert was scarier than I thought it had been. Nevertheless, I turned towards the sound and saw a young man with bright red hair looking just as helpless and frightened as me. I'm surprised he even touched my shoulder.

I smiled at the man who appeared to be a few years older than me. The first thing I noticed was his all-black attire that completely juxtaposed his bright red hair and pale white skin. I also noticed his weak smile that was just as conflicted with his sexy looking leather jacket, doc martens, and extremely tight skinny jeans that probably made more than the front of his pants look good. I didn't bother looking because he looked back up at me and gave me another innocent smile. I bit my lip and nodded at him, pulling a face of interest at what he had to say.

"I'm alone here, and I'm starting to think that wasn't the best decision." He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "I noticed you were alone too. Wanna stick together just for tonight?" he yelled over the loud music again, and I nodded, moving closer to him. When I did so, he physically relaxed, and his demeanour became immediately more comfortable.

"What's your name?" I shouted, and he took out his phone, going to type it.

Gerard Way, like Jer-Ard. No one ever gets it right.

I chuckled and took out my own phone. I guess it was good to not rip out your vocal cords introducing yourself to someone.

My name is Frank. Frank Iero. Like Eye-Ee-Roh. No one ever gets that right either.

He giggled, and my heart did a flip at the way his lips turned upwards in a lopsided smile. He turned back to the band playing, and shifted on his foot, standing a little closer to me for comfort.

"It's absolutely lovely to meet you, Gerard!" I yelled, grinning, and he smiled back.

"You too, Frank!" he shouted, and then we turned to the music again, swaying slightly with each other.

***

As the last song came to an end, Gerard and I sang it out together, occasionally making eye contact, and grinning. I was sweating from dancing, and the place had gotten really hot, but nevertheless, Gerard's black leather jacket was still on. As the lights came on, the previously dark and crowded room was now lit up and slightly less crowded. We let the flow of people guide us out of the theatre and onto the sidewalk. We stood awkwardly on the side of the building for a few seconds before Gerard flashed me a grin.

"Thanks for sticking with me tonight, Frank. I needed a friend."

I smiled back and felt my heart jolt as he put his hand on my shoulder. My cheeks felt very warm. "No problem. I needed one too."

His eyes sparkled and I saw a faint blush appear on his cheeks as well. "Where about do you live?" The sparkle in his eyes immediately died and was replaced by fear. "Wait, wait, wait, not like that. God, that's so creepy."

I snickered and brushed it off. "I know, just to like meet up again?"

He nodded, a look of relief crossing his face. "Yes, yeah. Exactly. I live in Belleville, New Jersey. Took me about an hour to come to New York for the Misfits."

"I'd take a plane to see them if I had to," I admitted. "I live in Belleville too, though. Just moved there from Newark and few months ago to live with my girlfriend, Jamia."

His face fell at the mention of a girlfriend, and my heart rushed at that too. But he was back to normal in a couple seconds. "Sweet! We should one hundred per cent meet up, then. If you want to, of course," he rubbed the back of his neck, almost nervously, and let go of my shoulder.

I frowned at the lack of contact and then shook my head. "I'd love to. I have like one friend in Belleville."

He smiled and then bit his lip. "Why isn't your girlfriend with you?" he asked gently.

"She doesn't like the Misfits as much as I do and she said she was meeting an old friend tonight anyways," I looked at my feet for a second, and then back up at him. "Where's your girlfriend. A good-looking guy like you must have one, right?"

His face turned bright red. "I-I... thanks. Um, she's actually out meeting an old friend too. A college friend she said. I'm surprised she didn't come. We like all of the same music."

"Well, in a sick, twisted way, I'm glad both of our girlfriends are doing something different. Like I said, I needed another Belleville friend. Plus, you're pretty cool." I flashed him a smile and he returned it.

Gerard checked his watch, and I did the same. "Twelve-thirty," he said sadly. "Time for me to head back. Do you need a ride?"

I shook my head. "As much as I'd love to spend more time with you, I can't just leave my car in New York, and I also just met you and I'm super scared of being abducted by handsome guys, so..."

He laughed and shook his head. "I'd offer to get you a drink then, but we need to drive. I parked up there," he pointed the opposite direction of my car, and I told him so. He frowned and shrugged.

"I guess I'll see you around then," I said, smiling.

"Not if you don't give me your number," he winked, and took out his phone, tapping on it and then handing it to me. I typed my number into it and texted myself.

"Cool, now I got yours too."

He grinned. "Well, I'll definitely see you around, now."

"Now, goodbye for real," I smirked.

He stuck a hand up and waved and we walked off in opposite directions, and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't check to see if I was right about his arse.

I was.

***

It was around one thirty by the time I got home, so I unlocked the door and closed it behind me as quietly as I could. I took my shoes off and treaded softly to the bedroom. The door was cracked open, and I heard something unusual. My girlfriend's moan came from the door, and as I approached it, I heard another moan, a female one, not belonging to my Jamia. I didn't really want to see what was behind the door, but I swung it open anyways and saw her lying on her back with her legs around another girl's head, who was eating her out.

Of course, when I opened the door, the girl's face became less buried between Jamia's legs, and I cringed. The girl was gorgeous. She had a pointy nose, strong jawline, and high cheekbones. I looked away before I saw parts of her that I didn't want to.

"P-please get under the covers, Jamia?" I said uncertainly.

"Okay, you can, uh, look, babe," she said, and I turned towards her, anger suddenly rising in my chest, my face getting hot.

"Don't call me that when I find you with another person, Jamia," I said, trying my best to keep my tone under control.

"That's fair. This is a bad time to say so, but I think you should move out, Frank. She and I have been together since a couple months after you moved in, and I don't want to be with you anymore. We can talk about this another time. Just—" she glanced at the girl beside her who sat smugly under the covers. "Just, leave for tonight. We'll sort this out tomorrow. Come here around three, right?"

I nodded, suddenly not angry anymore. I shivered. "Sounds, uh s-sounds good. I'll be here around then. Have fun with your... girl... uh... girlfriend."

She smirked too, and I walked out, shutting the bedroom door behind me. I put my shoes on, not even bothering to tie my laces and walked out of the apartment complex and back down to the basement to get my car. I collapsed in the front seat and took out my phone. I needed a place to sleep, and this car sure as hell wasn't going to do it for me.

Ray was probably up right now. He usually was at this hour; reading comics probably. I clicked on his contact and called him. He picked up on the second ring.

***  
"Yeah! I know right!" I sniffled, and Ray hugged me tighter. "You're really a godsend, Ray Toro."

He smiled. "I do what I can. So, after you called me, you came here, and that was it? You didn't drink anything or take anything right, dude?"

I shook my head. "I've been sober for a year now, and I really don't wanna ruin my record."

He squeezed my shoulders again and smiled. "I'm really glad, dude. I'm prouda you."

I wiped my eyes again and grimaced. "Thanks. I just... I don't know what's gonna happen when I go back in a few hours."

"You're gonna break up for real, call me, and then she and I will help you pack all of your stuff up. You can crash at mine until you find an apartment, 'kay?"

I nodded.

"Oh, and you're gonna see that guy that you met last night, right?"

I shrugged. "He has a girlfriend."

"So what? You can be friends with someone you're attracted to. That's what the unfortunate friend-zone is, Frank."

I nodded.

"Plus," he continued. "Seeing a new friend will help you cope with this. You gotta see more people than just me from now on, and maybe he knows somewhere you can rent?"

I nodded again. "Yeah, you're right."

"Always am," he grinned, and I couldn't help a small chuckle.

***

"That's the last of your things, I think. I'll call you if I find anything else," Jamia said, offering me a sympathetic smile. "Look, Frank, can I talk to you alone?"

I nodded. "Ray, could you, uh, give us a moment?"

"I'll take the first box down to your car."

I threw him my keys. "Yeah, see you in a few, man. Thanks."

He nodded at me, giving me a look that read 'be careful.'

Turning to Jamia, I closed the door and leant against it.

"Look, Frank, I'm really sorry. I should have told you I was gay sooner, but I really like having you in my life because you're a great guy. I didn't want to break your heart, but I also thought that you were gay too, so that's why I didn't really feel all that awful about it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I was planning on telling you a few weeks after we'd first hooked up, but then I chickened out, and I kept chickening until last night. I'm really sorry you had to find out that way," she said, her tone still gentle, her eyes sparkling with regret.

I nodded and felt a cool emptiness start to crawl up my arms, under my skin, seep into my brain and occupy my mind. "Thanks for explaining. About the gay thing... I'm glad you figured out... um... and you're right... mostly. I'm not sure what I am yet, but I know I'm not straight... uh, but other than that, thanks for being kind about this and helping me out." I paused. "What's your girlfriend's name?"

"Lindsey."

I nodded, swallowing thickly and feeling tears come up into my eyes. "Th-that's great, Jamia," I said softly, and felt the tears slowly rolling down my cheeks. I clutched my hands together and willed my eyes to stop, just stop. "I'm s-sorry, I don't even know why I'm cry-highing."

I brought a shaky hand up to wipe my eyes.

"You need a hug?" her voice was tense and cracked a bit.

I shook my head. "No, but I a-appreciate the sentiment."

She nodded. "Let's get more of these boxes down to your car, huh?"

I was impressed at how gentle her voice was, and I nodded shakily, my mind racing to comprehend what was happening.

"Uh, thanks for helping me with everything," I sighed softly, biting my lip as Jamia offered me a small smile.

"Of course. I mean, it's the least I could do after lying to you for so long," her smile was tainted with regret, and I swallowed thickly.

"Just, uh, please don't hurt any more people, 'kay? Like, the whole thing with communication and honesty is super important, and I'm thankful that I was able to learn that, don't get me wrong, but I really hope you and Lindsey are exclusive."

She nodded, confirming that they were and I tried to smile at that.

"Keep in touch, okay, Frank?" She spread her arms out for a hug, and this time, I accepted it gratefully, squeezing her tightly.

"Yeah, definitely... I'll text you at some point."

She nodded. "Go find yourself a boyfriend, Frank. You deserve to be loved by someone who can love you."

My smile was sombre as I stepped into my car, nodding at Ray so he could back out first. I followed him and gave Jamia and the parking lot of the apartment one last wave. I felt more empty tears rolling down my cheeks, and I wiped them away, concentrating on driving to Ray's house safely.

***

"Hey, Gerard!" I grinned as I answered the call. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much really. Just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out?"

I closed the door to the guest bedroom Ray was letting me stay in. "That'd be great, yeah. I know this really good coffee place if you wanna meet up. I actually have to ask you about something anyway."

"That sounds great. What's the name of it?"

"Like... the Drip or something..." I trailed off, desperately trying to think of what the name of my favourite coffee shop was.

"Yeah! I know that one. I go there every day before work," Gerard answered confidently, and he sounded like he was grinning.

"What? No way! Me too."

"What time are you there usually?"

"Like seven thirty-ish," I put a hand on my hip, leaning against the door.

"Ohh," he mewled. "I'm there around seven, and leave with my coffee."

"Oh, sweet. We just keep missing each other, don't we?" I chuckled. "I bet we work in the same building and don't even know it."

"Nah, I work for DC Comics. Bet you can't say that, pretty boy," he mocked.

I'm not even surprised when my cheeks flare up, heat crawling up the back of my neck and my face. "Mm, no I cannot. I work at a recording studio like half an hour away from here," I don't wait for a response. "But, I did not know that there was a DC office in Belleville of all places."

"There isn't. I work from home mostly, and sometimes I drive up to New York."

I nod. "Hey, um, I need to make lunch for me and my friend, but I'll see you tomorrow? How about like four thirty at the Drip?"

"Sounds wonderful, Frankie," he chuckled. "I'll let you go now. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye, see you!" I put my phone down on the bed and open the door, making my way to the kitchen.

"Who was that on the phone?" Ray asked, then grinned evilly, wiggling his eyebrows. "Was it Geraaaard?"

I felt my cheeks getting a little too hot, not having exactly cooled down from before. "Yeah, what about it?" I shook my hair into my eyes so as to distract from my burning face, but I knew that it was too late. I was caught red-handed. Well, red-faced.

"You really like this dude, don't you?" Ray smiled at me and leant against the counter.

"What do you want for lunch? I can make sandwiches," I muttered in response.

"Yeah, you definitely do like him. I'm surprised you haven't even admitted that you're gay yet."

"Actually, I just bought macaroni yesterday, I can make that," I said, now talking to myself. But to be fair, I was doing a great job of ignoring my best friend too.

"Not to pressure you or anything," he insisted kindly. "You're just such a twink."

I rolled my eyes. "Call me whatever you want, but that doesn't make it true."

"Punk," he mocked me. "It's kind of adorable. If Gerard doesn't like you back, I'll be surprised."

"Oh?" I know I was egging him on, but I brushed my hair out of my face and raised my eyebrow, crossing my arms.

He nodded.

"He has a girlfriend."

He shrugged. "Doesn't mean shit."

I uncrossed my arms and took out a pot and filled it with water, shaking my head. Setting it on the stove to boil, I turned to Ray. "You're gay too, right?"

"Ah, so you admit it," he grinned stupidly at me, and I shook my head.

"Yes! Yes, I'm gay. But so are you, aren't you? Or are you bi or something? You've mentioned ex-girlfriends too, right?"

He nodded. "I'm bi, yeah. Actually, speaking of me, I just got a guy's number. He's this lanky little twink but he's adorable. And he loves comics too! I went to the comic book store to see if they had the latest New 52 Suicide Squad issue, and he showed it to me, and we started talking and we're going on a date tomorrow!"

I grinned at him. I loved it when his eyes sparkled when he got excited about something. It made me so happy to see my friends happy, especially since excited and happy Ray was a rare sight to see.

"That's so cute! What's his name?" I asked, just as excited for him as he was. "Where are you going on your date? You're gonna let me help you choose your outfit, right?"

"Woah there, Nellie," he joked, putting on an accent that faded away when he kept talking. "When did you get so gay?"

"I'm just not holding back anymore, arsehole." The water was boiling now, so I took out the pasta and poured it into the pot, setting a timer for a few minutes and taking out a wooden spoon, stirring the food occasionally.

"I'm really glad to hear it, man," he said quietly, looking at the pot and smiling, his expression faded, his eyes far away from here.

"You never answered my questions, Toro," I insisted and he seemed to wake up from his daze.

"Sorry, dude. I'm just so proud of you."

I grinned. How did I get such an amazing best friend? "That's great, but answer my questions."

He laughed and crossed his arms while I stirred the pasta a bit more.

"One: of course, you can help pick out my outfit. Two: we're going to that teeny Italian restaurant. And three: his name is Mikey. Mikey Way."

I felt my mouth drop open. "Wait, wait, wait, hold up," I muttered. The timer on the pasta beeped. "Okay, lemme strain this motherfucker."

Ray raised an eyebrow. "Okaaay?"

I started to pour the steaming pasta into the strainer. "So, I might be remembering incorrectly, but Gerard's last name is Way."

Ray's eyes widened.

"I'm seeing Gerard tomorrow, so I'll ask him about it, but I think you're going out with my crush's brother."

"So, you admit that you like him."

"I couldn't hide it forever. You're my best friend. Friends tell each other stuff like this."

"Frank, you didn't even have to tell me. I guessed correctly."

I shook my head, waving him off. "Could you heat up the sauce?"

***

The bells connected to the door jingled lightly as it opened, and I looked up for what seemed like the fiftieth time in the last five minutes that I'd been waiting for Gerard. This time, however, the handsome redhead walked in and ordered a coffee. Afterwards, he looked around, spotted me, and grinned.

"Hey!" he said as he walked over to where I was sitting. I stood up and accepted the hug he offered.

"Hi!" I finally responded after he let go of me.

"It's good to see you again," he said, and began to say something else, but he paused as the barista said something.

"Jared!"

He rolls his eyes and smiles anyways. "See? Told you."

After he's retrieved his coffee, we sit down, and then I remember about Ray.

"Hey! I was just wondering when we introduced ourselves, you said your last name was Way, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you have a brother called Mikey?"

"Yeah, yeah, but why?" he looked at me reproachfully.

"Well, you know my friend that I was making lunch for yesterday?"

He nodded and took a short sip of his coffee.

"Well, his name is Ray. Does that ring a bell?"

"Oh my god, wait! Yes, it does! My brother is going on a date with a guy named Ray tonight."

I nodded. "Yeah. My friend Ray is going out with a guy called Mikey Way tonight."

He chuckled. "That's so cool. It really is a small world isn't it?"

"Yet we seem to have avoided each other for around nine months."

He shook his head. "That's how long you've been here?"

"Yep. Oh, about that. Do you know any flats that need renting around here before I look around? My girlfriend kicked me out. That's why I was at Ray's yesterday. I'm at his until I find my own place."

He bit his lip and looked down at his coffee. "I'm sorry, man, why'd she do that?"

"Well, I mean she's my ex now, I guess. I caught her cheating on me with a girl. She had just been avoiding coming out to me."

"Damn, you must be like... heartbroken. I'm sorry, dude. I wish I could help."

I shook my head. "It's alright. I just feel used, not heartbroken. It actually helped me come out too," I said soddenly as I brought my coffee to my lips. "Which speaking of, I'm gay."

"Good to know," he nodded, and I swear there was a smirk on his face. "And about the flat situation, there's a flat right below mine that needs renting. My landlord is kind of desperate, and besides, it's actually a really nice flat. I live with my girlfriend, so I'm sure you'll have some extra space, but I guess you'll definitely get a boyfriend at some point that'll want to live with you."

My eyes widened. "Thanks for the info about the flat... And what makes you so sure?"

"About you getting a boyfriend?"

"Mhm."

He shrugged, and the ghost of a smirk was back. "I just know."


	2. part two - hopes and tears

"Oh, my god, finally!" Mrs Page, the sweet old landlord said, bringing her shaky hand up to her forehead. "I've been waiting for forever for someone to rent this flat."

"Don't thank me, thank Gerard. He's the one who told me about it," I smiled at Gerard and so did she. "He practically sold it to me. I really needed a place."

"Well, I suppose the little rebel does have some redeeming qualities, doesn't he?" she giggled. "Now, I'd ask you to stay for tea, but I have so much to do, I'm afraid I won't even get to drinking any myself."

"That's our cue to leave, Gerard," I look up at him again, clutching copies of papers that the landlord had me sign. She grinned at us.

"Go on out, lovebirds. Leave me to my work," she in her sweet nasally voice.

"Oh, we're not—"

"Nonsense! I need to work now, boys. I don't mean to be rude, but sadly the two of you must go now. Thank you again for renting, Frank, darling. I'll see you around. I like you. You're kinder than your boyfriend."

"We're not—" Gerard began.

"No, thank you," I cut Gerard off and smiled at the landlord, shoving him out of her office and closing the door softly behind us.

"She assumed that we were dating even though you just started renting your own flat," he sighed, and I giggled.

"What?" he looked bemused.

"Nothing," I smirked. "I have to get all of my stuff back here though, so I'll have to go back to Ray's and get him to help me move everything tonight when he gets back from work."

He nodded. "Oh, by the way, I was meaning to ask—would you like to come over for dinner after you get all of your stuff here? I'm sure my girlfriend would love to meet you."

I hid the gentle stab in my heart at the mention of his girlfriend with a smile. I hoped it looked genuine. "I'd love to. What's her name again?"

"I actually don't think I ever mentioned. Her name's Lindsey."

***

"Hi! I'm Lindsey. Gerard talks a lot about you, Frank." Lindsey smiled at me, extending her hand to shake mine. I know her from somewhere, but I can't quite remember where.

I smile at her, and step inside, seeing Gerard's head pop out of the kitchen door. "Hey, Frankie! Make yourself at home!" Then his head disappears again, and I smell something delicious coming from the kitchen, but I can't quite place it.

"Would you like something to drink?"

I turn back to Lindsey. "Sure! What do you have?"

"We have water, of course. Sodas, and oh, we also have sparkling water, which I think will go best with what Gerard's making. It's vegetarian night, I hope you don't mind."

"Whatever you say," I smile, and she turns away from me before I get to really see her face. "I'm vegetarian so, I'm glad you had me over tonight."

"Oh, thank god," she laughs and gestures for me to follow her.

I follow her into the kitchen where Gerard is, and he grins when he sees me. He abandons whatever is on the stovetop to hug me, and then leans against the stove when we pull away.

"So, you've got all the boxes moved into your new flat?"

I nod. "I even brought the spare mattress with me. I still own the storage unit that holds all of my stuff from before I moved in with my girlfriend at the time, so I'm actually good on furniture, thank god. I think I'd die if I had to furnish a whole damn flat."

Lindsey laughs as I smirk and Gerard shakes his head.

"That's super lucky, dude. I'm really glad. It's so hard to start from scratch."

Lindsey hands me and Gerard our glasses and pours one for herself as well. It's then that I get to finally study her face and try to remember where I recognise her from. The raven hair, pointy nose, sharp cheekbones and jaw... My face flushes, and I know I've gone really pale. Even glancing at Gerard doesn't make me feel the heat rush back to my face.

I take a sip of sparkling water. I wonder who had the alcohol problem. I've heard about people resorting to sparkling water instead. I shake off the thought.

I need to tell Gerard about my discovery, but since she's here, and she will be here, I'll have to wait until tomorrow. I should have known as soon as Gerard told me her name yesterday, but it's too late to regret that. Is it even my place to tell Gerard that his girlfriend might also be my ex's girlfriend?

I ponder this as Gerard and Lindsey make small talk and I try to smile and keep up with it, nodding when I need to, laughing when they do. I come to the conclusion that while Jamia was cheating on me, I would've appreciated it if someone had told me that they thought that she was doing so. And since I was almost certain—from the way he was flirty around me—that Gerard was queer, so he would understand if Lindsey was too. With my mind made up, I slipped back into consciousness and was able to focus on what was going on for the rest of the night.

***

"Thanks so much for the amazing food! I'll have to cook for you guys at some point too," I smiled and leant on the open doorframe for goodbyes. I hugged Lindsey when she extended her arms to me and hugged Gerard too.

"We'd love that!" Lindsey said enthusiastically as she could at twelve at night after a very filling dinner, and I smiled. But as soon as I made eye contact with her, I felt a dash of guilt. The more I looked at her, the memory of seeing her in my and Jamia's flat just became more and more vivid. I smiled at Gerard one last time for that night, waved to them both and headed for the stairs to get to my flat right below theirs.

"I'm so sleepy. I'm gonna go to bed," I heard Lindsey say right before their door closed. Good. At least they'd go straight to bed.

***

"Hey, Frankie what's up?" Gerard's voice came through the phone. I glanced at my clock and cringed. It was around eight am.

"I'm sorry if I just woke you, Gee, but I need you to meet me at the coffee shop for lunch unless you're already busy, okay? Is around twelve thirty good?"

"Yes, yes, of course. It's summer break for me so don't worry about me being busy. I don't know about you though. Are you on vacation?"

"Yeah, but that's irrelevant. Thanks so much for meeting me there."

"Hey, wait, Frankie. Two things. One: I like the nickname. Two: how about I come down to your apartment at twelve thirty and we can walk together instead of having to wait for each other?"

"That's even better. Thanks, Gee," I bite my lip hoping that he won't be upset with me when I tell him what's going on. I don't know if I'd show it, but I'd be.

When twelve thirty rolls around, I hear a knock on my door, and rush to open it, still getting my second converse on.

"Hey Frankie," Gerard says quietly as I finish tying my shoe, and he does that adorable little giggle of his again, and the butterflies in my heart seem to all be carrying daggers. If only he had any idea of what I was about to tell him.

We walk to the coffee shop making small talk and when we get there, he opens the door for me. I pay for both of our sandwiches and drinks, and I see him blush at this. He leaves a tip in the tip jar.

And we sit down.

And suddenly, I don't think I can do this anymore, even though I know that I would have wanted someone to do this for me when literally the same thing happened to me.

"So, Frank," he begins and I swallow thickly. The barista calls my order and we pick up our lunches and sit back down. I'm not sure if I'm so hungry anymore.

He begins again.

"So, Frank."

My heart races. It races at the curve of his lips as he smirks, the way he leans in a little bit as he talks to me without realising it, the little sparkle in his eyes as he talks or when he grins. But it also races with anticipation, with guilt, with fear that Gerard will lash out on me and call me a liar, the fear that I'll lose a friend to mistrust, with gratefulness that I get to do this for him even if he doesn't want to hear it. My heart races so fast, in fact, that I can hear it in my ears.

"Tell me what's up," he says nonchalantly.

I can hear my heart racing itself in my ears, the blood pounding along with it, creating harmonies, the shakiness in my hands creating a drumbeat against my thighs where they lay, my fingers weaved tightly together.

Oh no. I'm not gonna have a panic attack right now. I take a few deep breaths, get some water, sit back down.

"Gerard, I want you to promise me not to freak out, okay? That's why we're in a public setting. So, you won't like... cause a scene or something I guess."

He nods. "I promise. But I'm not gonna hold anything back. You're making this seem really important, and you deserve a genuine reaction. What's up?"

"Well, before I freak myself out over nothing, is your relationship with Lindsey open?"

He leans back, and crosses his legs, fidgeting uncomfortably. "Frank, you're a great guy and all but I'm not going to—"

"This isn't about me, just answer the question," I hope the regret in my eyes tells him that I'm sorry for being rude.

He shakes his head. "No. No, it isn't. We're exclusive."

I nod, closing my eyes and taking in another deep shaky breath. "You know my ex-girlfriend, Jamia, and how she was cheating on me with this girl and now that girl is her girlfriend?"

"Frankie, where is this going?"

"Well," I continue, ignoring him. "Her girlfriend's name is Lindsey. And her girlfriend either has an identical twin with the same name as your girlfriend, or there's something going on that you're not aware of."

"Frankie—"

I ignore him again, scared that if I listen to him that he'll blow up at me. "I'm telling you this because I would have wanted someone to tell me when this was happening to me. I think your girlfriend is cheating on you, Gee, and I think you should know."

"Frankie—"

"I'm sorry if I crossed a line, but please know I do this out of love for you, Lindsey, and Jamia, okay?"

"Frankie, will you listen to me?"

I nodded. My spiel was over. It was his turn. I sighed and gripped my hands together harder, my knuckles turning impossibly whiter. "Go ahead," I whispered.

"Thank you," he sighed, annoyed. "First of all, I don't know if something is going on in your private life that has made you tell me something this awful, but somehow, I don't think you're trying to do this for personal gain. Second of all, I want to believe you, but I also have to trust my girlfriend. If you can give me solid evidence that this is true, I'll trust you, 'kay?"

I nodded. "That's fair. I really admire that you trust Lindsey that much. It's very sweet," I mumbled, smiling, feeling my heart racing again. "If you want solid evidence," my voice became serious again, "We can FaceTime Jamia or something if you want to. I'm sure she'll be heartbroken to know that her girlfriend was already dating someone."

"Wait, hold on, Jamia thinks she's in a serious relationship too?"

I nodded. When I'd seen Lindsey that time that I'd caught her and Jamia together, Jamia had told me that they were exclusive.

***

"Welcome to the shambles I call home," I opened my door and held up my arm like a gameshow host. Gerard grinned and stepped inside.

"It's actually quite nice. I like what you did with it," he turned his smile to me and bit his lip. "But this is your old furniture?"

I nodded. "What's wrong with it?"

I could tell he was biting back a laugh. "N-nothing, just..."

"Just what, Gee?" I chuckled and led him into the living room that he was staring at.

"It's just like... really gay."

A laugh erupted from my throat and he joined me. Eventually, our laughter died down and I shoved his shoulder lightly. "Well, I'm glad it gives the right sort of vibe, then."

His eyes sparkled as he looked at me and I swear my heart jumped a thousand miles out of my body. Even then, I could feel it sinking.

"We should call Jamia," I said quietly, and the sparkle in his eyes died as he nodded.

"I sp'ose we should."

I took out my laptop and set it on my coffee table, gesturing for Gerard to come and sit next to me. I texted Jamia asking if I could call her and she said sure, just to wait five minutes.

"Should I like... not be involved so you can get a genuine answer or something?"

I looked over at Gerard and bit my lip. His face had gone really pale and he had his knees tucked up to his chest. I could tell he was uncomfortable with the whole situation, and getting a genuine answer wasn't the only thing he was bothered about. I nodded.

"Do whatever makes you feel comfortable, Gee," I offered him a reassuring smile, and he struggled to return it, but he nodded thankfully, and I could see some of the colour making its way back into his cheeks. I didn't let myself think that it was at the nickname.

Jamia ended up being the one who called me, so when she did, I picked up almost immediately.

"Hey Frankie," she said, her voice a little raw, hair tousled, and wearing a shirt backwards. I raised an eyebrow at this. Gerard was watching over my shoulder, hidden out of sight of the camera. I could feel him tense up but didn't look at him.

"You know I hate it when you call me that," I said, mocking annoyance. I gave up my façade when she laughed.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" she asked and looked down at her lap. "Shh, I'm trying to talk to my friend, Linds!"

I heard another giggle from the computer and swallowed.

"Sorry, Frank, Lindsey's in my lap and she's pestering me. Now, tell me what you wanted to FaceTime about?"

I heard a sharp inhale from beside me and instinctually gave Gerard my hand to hold on to. His grip was tight. I didn't mind. I shot Gerard a quick glance as if to confirm that he still wanted to do this, and apparently, he got the message because he nodded confidently.

I swallowed again.

"Jamia, you and Lindsey are exclusive right?"

"Yeah, I already told you so. Why? Don't try to set me up with someone like you did before we dated. That was awful."

I nodded, and let out a small chuckle.

"What's her last name?"

"Ballato, why?"

"Nothing, just curious. My friend thought he knew her but he doesn't."

"Who, Ray?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Lindsey's pestering me as you saw earlier, so I gotta go." She flipped her camera so we saw Lindsey's face. I heard Gerard sniffle quietly beside me.

"Call me later okay?" Jamia added, flipping the camera to show herself again, her voice and her face carrying suspicion.

Damn. She could tell I was lying every time I did. I nodded, and hung up, closing my computer and my eyes. I turned to Gerard and he had silent tears sliding swiftly down his cheeks. I gathered him in my arms and hugged him, rubbing his back lightly. I expected his body to resemble that of a rag doll's but surprisingly he hugged me back, tighter than I was hugging him, so I didn't let go.

"Frankie!" he wailed, and I petted his hair, comforting him. "What am I going to do?!"

"Solve this, Gee. You're going to work this out, and I'll be there to help you when you need okay?"

He shook his head. "It's not that fucking easy! I'm not gonna be able to just fucking get over her! She was such a good friend and girlfriend to me; she was always there for me... I just... I had just fucking proposed to her the day be-before you came over f-for dinner!"

I scrunched up my face in pain, for myself and for Gerard. She'd said yes too, I suppose, or else Gerard wouldn't be this broken. How desperate was Lindsey?

"I promise you'll be okay, alright, Gee? I'm gonna be here for you," I said, and he buried his face in my chest, sliding onto my lap so he could do so. I ignored all of the butterflies and the stabbing pain in my chest. This wasn't about me. It was about him.

"You can stay the night if you'd like to, I'll make you food just like I promised, and we can do whatever you want to. We can go out do something to take your mind off of things, or we can stay in and do whatever you like."

He nodded vigorously, and I smiled, my fingers sliding through his long red locks.

"Staying the night sounds good, could I? It would m-mean the world to m-me, not to have to go back to... y'know" he mumbled into my chest, and I squeezed him once.

"Of course, Gee." I bit back pain at what I was going to say next, but I figured it would be the right thing to say, hopefully at least shifting my mindset. "What're friends for?"

***

"What do you want for dinner?"

Gerard sat on top of my counter, a smile dancing across his lips and his eyes sparkly even though they were still a bit red. "Hmm, what do you have that's easy to make?"

"We could order pizza, but I wanna cook for you. There's pasta, but that's boring. We could make sandwiches, but that's also boring. I don't really have any meat either because I'm vegetarian, so that kind of sucks for all of my guests."

"Frankie, calm down," he giggled, and my cheeks turned red at the nickname. "Pasta sounds great. I don't care what kind of sauce."

"Okay," I said, smiling slightly and nodding. "Whatever the lad wants."

He smirked. "Thanks. Also, you told Jamia you didn't like her calling you Frankie. Do you want me to stop?"

I opened a cabinet and got out the pasta, opened the fridge and got out ingredients for a cream sauce.

"Uh... Nah. I like it when you call me that. It sounds cute coming from you," I smiled to myself and looked over to see his cheeks flaming red. I put the water on.

"C'mere," Gerard said, and I walked over. He held out his arms and smiled. "Can I have a hug?"

I leant into the counter between his legs and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer to myself than I'd ever think I'd be. I felt his arms do the same for me, and I smiled. He hummed contently, and pulled me closer to him, forcing my head to rest in the crook of his neck, and my arms to ride up and over his shoulders just like before you'd kiss someone.

My face heated up at the thought of kissing Gerard, but I pushed those feelings away. That was not what he needed right now. More romantic issues were the last thing I would let myself cause him.

But for right now, I could settle for this.

I sighed, hearing the water boil and pulled away gently. Gerard's eyes watered a little bit at this, but I just pointed at the pot and he sighed, nodding. I didn't even have to think about what I was doing as I poured the pasta in and set a timer. I did this far too often for it to be healthy.

I pulled out another pot and started working on the sauce.

"You're a really great hugger, Frankie," Gerard sighed as he watched me work.

"I hope I'm an even better cook because it's quite distracting to have you in here," I joked, and grinned at him, watching a blush spread all over his face.

"Well, that sucks, because I'm not leaving anytime soon. I think you even offered to let me sleep here tonight."

I shrugged and he smiled somberly.

***

"Frankie, I'm sleepy, can we go to bed?"

"We?" Jesus Christ my face needs to know how to not go red.

He nodded, scooting closer to me on the couch, averting his eyes from the television to stare up into mine and nestling his head into my shoulder again. I sighed.

"Well, I guess it's late anyway," I admitted, glancing at the clock and pausing the movie. Eh, ten thirty, but still late for the emotional rollercoaster Gerard had gone through today. "Where do you wanna sleep? I can always crash on the couch, and you can have my bed."

"Is it a twin?" he asked hesitantly.

"Queen."

"Will you sleep with me?"

My cheeks went bright red, and I pulled away slightly, looking at him. I could feel my eyes involuntarily widen. "W-what?"

"Not like that! I'm sorry, bad choice of words. Like... like, sleep, not have sex," his cheeks had also gone a beautiful cherry red, and I felt myself relaxing as his eyes twinkled with energy that he seemed to have been lacking just a few minutes before.

"Well, I mean..."

"Please?" his eyes pleaded with me, and he clutched my arm, his hands shaking.

I sighed, "If that's what you want, Gee," and forced a smile. My heart was going to race, it was going to trick me into thinking that we had something—anything to make me feel like I wasn't alone in my feelings.

He sighed too, but in relief, and snuggled further into my chest. "Thanks, Frankie. I know you don't want to, so you don't have to, but I would really like you to."

My breath hitched. "It's not that I don't want to, Gee. It's just that male friends don't usually do that kind of thing, do they?"

"If girl-friends can, then so can guy-friends. That's sexist, Frankie," he mumbled jokingly, and I could tell that he was back to being sleepy and acting far too adorable.

"You're right," I sighed and laid my head on his. He hummed in approval.

"You're really comfy," he slurred. "It was as if someone made you just right so that I could fit with you... like a lock and key, y'know?"

I bit my lip at his poor choice of words again, and my heart raced as fast as I'd ever felt it go. If he was going to keep talking like this, I didn't know what I was going to do. I was comfortable acknowledging that even though he was a great friend so far, for the week or so that I'd known him, my feelings were anything but platonic. Shaking my head, I switched the television off and sat up.

"C'mon Gee, we gotta go to bed," I murmured, running a hand through his hair. If I couldn't have him for myself, I was just going to do what I thought platonic girl-friends were comfortable with doing. And if he asked, I'd explain that that was what I was doing. He'd understand, but not really.

I don't care what Ray had said. I saw a very slim chance of him actually liking me, and it was easier to accept the fact that he was straight and try to move on than actually giving myself hope and then being rejected. So, I'd just settle for what I soon hoped to be best friends.

I looked at my phone and then remembered that Ray was probably still out with Mikey. I texted him to meet up the next day for lunch or dinner to talk about how their date went, and then nudged Gerard.

"C'mon Gee," I said again, but he only nestled himself farther into my chest. I tried not to grin too widely, and picked him up.

"If you can't move, I'm gonna make you. This couch gives you the worst neck and back pains ever. I'm not going to let you sleep on it."

"Fine..." he grumbled and slipped out of my hands. I led the way to my bedroom and then sighed as I realised Gee didn't even have clothes to sleep in.

"Gerard, what're you going to sleep in, hon?"

He shrugged. "I'll sleep in my boxers. It's not any different than normal and—"

"No, I'm not going to let you do that."

"But—"

"No. I'm sorry." I wish I could have said that I was sorry I was making this about me, I'm sorry I have feelings for you, and I'm sorry that I can't do anything about that, so, for now, you're gonna have to roll with this for my sake, but I couldn't do that. He didn't need to think about that right now. It was better if he didn't know.

"If you'd listen to me, I was going to say, but I don't have anything to wear, and I can't go and face Lindsey right now," he said regretfully and looked down at his feet.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," I went to wrap my arms around his shoulders but he shuffled away from me.

"It's okay. I'll sleep on the couch if you're so uncomfortable with that."

"Hell no, you can't sleep on that, you'll be so sore you can't walk," I said, making my face turn red again.

He raised an eyebrow and the ends of his lips twitched upwards. "I'm used to that, don't worry."

"W-what?" I felt my eyes widening and my heart skipped a beat.

He smirked. "Take a joke, Frankie," his smirk only grew more annoying as he saw my red cheeks. I turned towards my wardrobe.

"Well, since you were so desperate to sleep in the same bed earlier," I sorted through my clothes looking for a t-shirt that would fit someone seven feet taller than me. "I can lend you clothes."

"Okay, thanks," he mumbled, and the know-it-all Gerard was gone, and 'just-friends' Gerard was back.

I threw him a shirt and sleep shorts, and led him to the bathroom to change. As soon as the door closed, I walked back to my bedroom and undressed as well. I pulled on a pair of shorts and was looking for a shirt when Gerard walked back in. Again, my face did the blush-y thing, and I grabbed a random t-shirt and pulled it over my head.

"I like your tattoos. That one on your chest is really nice."

"Th-thanks," I stuttered, and he slid into the bed, guessing correctly which side wasn't mine.

"You coming?" he smiled and winked. I think he knew what he was doing now, and since it was kind of apparent that he shared none of the feelings for me that I did for him, this was just really cruel. I rolled my eyes and got in beside him.

He looked at me expectantly. I furrowed my brow. "What, Gerard?"

He broke eye contact. "Nothing, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," I sighed, and reached out, stroking his shoulder. "Tell me what's wrong, Gee."

"I, um... can you... can you cuddle with me?"

I closed my eyes and then opened them again. "I—sure. C'mere."

He moved towards me sleepily and I did too, reaching over my shoulder to turn off the last of the lights. If platonic girl-friends did this, then we could too.

"Thanks, Frankie."

I felt him rest his head in the crook of my neck and wrap his arms around my waist, and even though he was seven feet taller than me, he was right; it felt like we fit together perfectly. His breath was deeper now, more relaxed. He was asleep.

"Goodnight, Gee," I whispered, and kissed the top of his head.

"Goodnight Frankie," he murmured back, and I felt him shift adorably in my arms, pulling me impossibly closer.

We woke up in the same position, which surprised me. I usually moved a lot during the night, but I guess I was more exhausted than I thought while I was taking care of Gerard. He deserved it though. Ray was there for me when Jamia had kicked me out after the same thing had happened to me, and him being there for me was the best thing I could have asked for.

He needed someone to be there for him too. I watched his face as he slept, knowing it was creepy, but shamelessly marvelling at his beauty nonetheless. His lips were parted slightly, his bright red hair messy against my chest. His face was tilted slightly, showing off his jawline, and his lips had a slight trace of a smile on them. Even so, I knew that today the fact that his girlfriend didn't love him the way she told him was going to hit him, and he was going to be shaken with the harsh truth of it all.

Should I get up to make breakfast? No, what if he woke up? And besides, I knew he'd want me there when he woke up. Speaking of waking up...

"Morning, Gee," I said softly, and he frowned.

"Frankie?" his face scrunched up. "Ohh!" he smiled a little bit, and then, "Oh."

And his frown was back, and he closed his eyes again and buried his face in my chest again. "Oh, Frankie, how am I gonna face her?" he slurred and I saw tears springing forward in his eyes, tracing lines down his cheeks.

"Hey, hey, hey," I cooed and brought him closer. "Don't worry about that right now, okay? I'm going to make us breakfast and then we can talk about how you're gonna go about today, alright?" I rubbed his back, and he leant impossibly closer to me. I could feel his tears soaking through my shirt so I ran my fingers through his hair and let him cry.

"Let it out, darling," I murmured, and he nodded into my chest, letting out little cries of pain every now and then. Soon enough, he seemed to have run out of tears, so I pulled him back.

"Would you like something to eat, Gee?"

He nodded.

I got out of bed, and he followed me to the kitchen.

"Hop up," I instructed him, and get got on the counter again.

"Why?"

"So, you don't accidentally get in my way," I smiled at him. "Plus, it's cute when you sit there. I'm used to making food alone and you're good for mental support."

"I thought I distracted you."

I shrugged. "Apparently not."

"Your pasta was really good last night," he shrugged too and smiled, wiping his red eyes.

"Thanks," I smiled at him. "Anyways..." I looked inside my fridge. "I can make pancakes, eggs, or cereal, or lunch food too because it's like eleven am."

"Um, pancakes sound great," he said smiling, and I sighed in relief.

"Thank god one of us is decisive," I grinned as I pulled out the ingredients.

"We make a great pair, don't we?"

"Mm, even our landlord thinks so," I joked, and watched his cheeks turn red as he laughed softly along with me.

Maybe, just maybe I wasn't alone. But it was too early to tell right now.


	3. part three - lovers and fighters

"Hey Jamia, is Lindsey still with you?" I held the phone up to my ear and glanced at Gerard who was sitting next to me, knees curled up to his chest again.

"No, but you've really gotta explain what's going on, Frank."

"I will. I told Ray that I'd get dinner with him so he could tell me how his date went, so maybe I can tell you some other time?"

"Okay. I just want to know what's going on."

"And you will. I promise."

"Alright. Talk to you later, Frank."

"Yep, I'll call you. Bye!"

"Byee!" She hung up.

"Yeah, Lindsey's back at your flat," I said softly, putting my phone down and putting my hand on his knees. "You look so miserable all curled up like that, Gee. C'mere, give me a hug."

He gratefully fell into my arms and I heard another sniffle, so, I rubbed his back in what I hoped was a soothing way.

"H-how can you even talk to her?"

"Hm?"

"J-Jamia," he said softly. "I can't even say my ex-fiancée's name. How can you even talk to your ex-girlfriend?"

"Well, I mean, you've gotta remember I'm gay and so is she, so we never really loved each other. It was always just an intense friendship and we messed around and kissed a bit, but I didn't ever really feel attracted to her. So, it's easier for me to accept. You, on the other hand, are, as far as I know, straight, and you loved Lindsey, so I understand how this is hard for you."

I was surprised when I heard him snicker.

"What?"

"You're right about me actually loving Lindsey, but oh god, I'm not straight."

My heart soared at his words, a tiny smile creeping onto my lips. "I'm not surprised."

"Mhm," he hummed. "I should go and talk to her. When are you gonna be with Ray?"

I checked my texts. "Seven. So, I should get going around six forty-five."

"Okay," he murmured and I felt him inch closer to me. "If I need someone to talk to afterwards, you'll be here?"

"Until six forty-five," I said smiling at him.

"Okay, thanks, Frankie," he said, drawing away from me to show me he was smiling. A few tears were still sliding down his cheeks, and his nose and eyes were red.

"Aw, Gee," I sighed, and raised a shaky hand to wipe away his tears with one of my thumbs. I felt him lean his cheek into my hand. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't apologise for anything," Gerard said, opening his eyes quickly, and shaking his head, effectively shaking my hand off. He held it reassuringly. "You've only helped me through all of this. Don't you dare fucking apologise to me." His voice had turned mildly aggressive, and I felt my heart speeding up, blood rushing to my cheeks. I tensed a little bit and he bit his lip.

"Okay," I said, and he smiled brokenly at me. "I won't. Just promise me one thing, okay, Gee?"

He nodded.

"Don't be rude to her, please. Hear her out and then you can say whatever is on your mind, but yelling at her or being rude isn't going to solve anything. See what she wants, and tell her what you want."

He nodded again.

"And I'll be here for you until six forty-five. So, come around if you need to, 'kay?"

"M'kay. I promise."

"Good," I purred and pulled him towards me again, and he laid his head on my chest gratefully. "You feel good enough to go and talk now or do you want to wait a little bit?"

"Can I stay for ten more minutes?"

"Mhm," I hummed and he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Thanks for everything, Frankie."

"It's not a problem. I've enjoyed the company."

***

My fingers danced across the acoustic guitar frets, soloing to a "The Smiths" song as I hummed along. I heard a door slamming, and frantic footsteps above my head. I put my guitar down on its stand in what I'd dubbed "the music room" because I put all of my music books and guitars in it, and made my way to the front door. I opened it too, just waiting for Gerard to come running down the stairs. But he didn't. I waited for a few more moments and then saw the door across the hall open.

"Hey! You're the new guy, right?"

I nodded. "I've been here a few days, yeah."

He smiled. "Well, my name's Brendon. The first time I heard something like that from upstairs, I did what you're doing. It's this old fucking married couple. They're like sixty and they're constantly slamming doors and running around. I met them when I first moved in a couple of years ago. They're pretty fit too, always running up and down those stairs."

I laughed a bit and leant against my door. "My name's Frank. It's nice to meet you. Thanks for the info about them, though. It's good to know and not get freaked out I guess."

"Yeah," he laughed. "The couple that lives right above you told me about them when they moved in. Funny thing though—they moved in as roommates, and now they're dating. That guy, Gerard is the gayest man on earth. I can't believe he ended up dating a girl."

I raised an eyebrow, said "Good to know," and smirked.

He grinned at me. "So, you're one of us, too."

I nodded and laughed with him. Then his eyes lit up. "What am I doing, Ryan would love to meet you. RYAN!" he yelled.

A boy around the same age as him appeared in the doorway. "What, babe?"

Brendon slapped his shoulder playfully. "Meet the new guy, Frank. He's queer too. I think Mrs Page just attracts us like flies."

Ryan rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and then turned to look at me. "It's lovely to meet you, Frank. I'm Ryan. Don't mind my boyfriend."

I laughed as Brendon looked offended, still slipping an arm around Ryan and pulling him closer to him.

"I'll leave you two to sorting out whatever's going on here," I said mocking seriousness, and Ryan giggled.

"T's okay. We're just fooling around."

"I know," I said, breaking character and Brendon laughed with me.

"Good luck with Gerard, by the way," he added and then wrote something on a piece of paper. "Here's my number if you ever wanna hang out."

I walked the yard between our doors and took it from him gratefully. "Thanks, I need a few friends. I'll text you in a minute or so when—"

The door to the stairs swung open and a red-eyed Gerard came walking swiftly out of them.

"Hey Gerard," Brendon said, concern apparent in his tone.

"Hey Brendon," he mumbled and looked at me. "Can I—"

"Yeah, come in. I'll talk to you guys later," I said, flashing them a smile, and they smiled back. Brendon winked.

I rolled my eyes and smiled retreating back into my apartment.

"Hey, Gee," I said closing my door. "It's been three hours. I thought you would've made up by now?"

He shook his head and collapsed into me, wrapping his arms tightly around my neck and burying his face in my shoulder.

"What happened?" I asked softly.

He shuddered in my arms and shook his head.

"It's okay, you can tell me later," I whispered and ran my hands through his hair. "Wanna sit down?"

He nodded and followed me to the sofa where he took his shoes off and hugged his knees to his chest again. "S-so w-we were talking about h-how to go on from here and sh-she said she wanted to be exclusive with J-Jamia because she figured out that she-she was gay too."

I squeezed my eyes shut in pain, and rubbed his back.

"So, you broke up," I said softly.

"So, we broke up," he confirmed and shuddered. "It hurts to say it, but we both fell out of love."

"Oh?"

"Mhm. Me proposing was a last attempt to save what we had. L-looking back that was pretty f-fucking stupi-hid," he stuttered, and I continue rubbing his back softly, at a loss for what else to do.

"I mean, yeah, but at least it ended, right?"

"Mhm. I don't think I'm gonna miss her, but it's still hard giving up like a year and nine months' worth of a relationship, y'know?"

"Yeah," I whispered. "I know."

"She's moving out. She left with the elevator to sleep over at Jamia's tonight and she said she'll be back at some point to get her things, but she's moving out. Said she didn't even like the bloody apartment anyway," he muttered darkly, and I hummed.

"Is there anything I can do to help, Gee?"

"Be there with me when she comes and gets her things. She said she'd text me when she was coming over, so, if you're available it'd be amazing if you could be there."

I nodded. "It's summertime. I'm sure I can be there for you."

"Th-that would mean so much, Frankie," he whimpered, and fresh tears started flowing down his cheeks. "That would mean so so much."

***

"So..." I smirked at Ray. "Now that my depressing story about Gerard is over, tell me how your date with Mikey went!"

"Damn, depressing to happy that fast?"

"C'mon, I really wanna hear what happened, dude," I said, and he grinned, blushing.

"Okaaay, well, we went to see a Stephen King movie first, and we were both holding hands the whole time because we were scared, and it was really good, and then we got dinner because tickets were sold out for a later showing, but I think it was good to have that bonding experience first, you know?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, I understand. Wait, before you go on, what movie was it?"

"The Shining. It was terrifying," he chuckled.

"Did you have nightmares?"

"Unfortunately, not. But Mikey did, and he called me around three in the morning and we talked for a while until he felt better and oh my god, he's so cute when he's scared. I'm definitely going to take him to another scary movie later on."

I grinned. "You bastard. So, tell me about dinner."

"Well, we went to that one Waffle House because he wanted to and I'd never been, and we sat and drank coffee and ate waffles until like one thirty am because they're open all night long. Then we said we should probably leave, so I gave him a ride home, and yeah, it was a pretty great evening."

"Aww," I grinned. "Did you kiss him?"

His cheeks went bright red. "Well, actually, he kissed me. I walked him to his doorstep and we said goodnight, and he didn't seem to want to, but then he just pulled me into it, and it was..." he lowered his voice. "It was kind of magical, dude. I really like him."

"No, wait, really? You like him?" I deadpanned and he laughed at me, his cheeks going even darker.

"Shut up, nerd."

"Oh, come on, you know I love being a nerd. Plus, you're a big-time nerd yourself, Toro."

He shrugged, his eyes spinning with happiness. "What if I just met the love of my life in a comic book store? That's the nerdiest thing on earth."

"You never know, you just may have," I grinned, egging him on.

"I just may have. Oh, about feelings and stuff, I wanted to say something to you about Gerard."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I... Um... Well, since he just got out of a serious long-term relationship, he may rebound because he feels like he's missing something and I just don't want you to fall for that and get hurt because he doesn't actually care about you, okay? Just watch out for that."

"You're right, I should. When I met him at the concert, I thought he was trying to pick me up. That's how flirty he was, and that hasn't really stopped. I just don't know if that's how he actually is, or if he's just like that around me. That's the only thing that's really concerning for me right now."

Ray nodded. "I mean, I'm pretty sure he likes you but... Don't let yourself be a rebound, man. You deserve so much better than that."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, man. I think I may have needed to be told that actually."

He nodded again. "Everyone does at least once in their life."

When I got home, I decided that it would be a good idea to check up on Gerard, so I phoned him. When he didn't pick up, I got concerned and called again. He didn't pick up a second time so I decided to go up there and check out the damage.

I tucked my phone into my pants pocket and walked up the stairs. I tried knocking and stood for a few minutes, and then resorted to trying the door handle. It was open. This wasn't good.

I walked into the familiar flat and looked in the kitchen and then the living room where I spotted him on the floor next to the sofa. He was curled in a ball, shuddering once in a while, his red hair sticking to his forehead and cheeks where tears were rolling down his cheeks and neck messily.

"Oh, Gee," I sighed and rushed over to him. "Gerard?" I said kneeling down next to him.

He opened his eyes and looked up at me. "Frankie?"

I nodded and scooped him up off the floor and he curled into me, clutching his hands to his chest.

"Frankie, what're you doing here?"

"I decided to check how you were doing. I'm glad I did," I shifted under his weight.

He nodded and buried his face in my neck, and my cheeks flared again, my heart picking up its pace. I walked towards where I assumed the bathroom was. "Y-you're the best, Frankie. Thank you for thinking of me."

"Don't thank me. I told you I was going to be here for you, and I don't lie to people I care about."

He nodded. "M-me neither but apparently both of our exes do."

I sighed and held him tighter. "Try your best not to think about that right now, 'kay Gee? Can you do that for me?"

He nodded. "For you," he hugged me tighter.

I opened the door to the bathroom and sat him down on the toilet seat. I tried to pull out of his arms, but he grasped me tightly, one of his hands still curled into a fist.

"Hey, Gee, let go, I'm gonna help clean you up, okay? No offence, but you're kind of a hot mess right now."

He let out a choked laugh, and let go of me. I brushed the hair out of his eyes, running my fingers through it and smoothing it out as best I could. When I was done with this, I took a few squares of toilet paper and wiped his eyes and nose.

"What's in your hand, darling?" I cooed, hoping he wouldn't notice the new nickname.

Seeing as a blush crept up on his cheeks and he smiled a little, he did. He opened his hand and showed me a sparkly engagement ring that clearly belonged to Lindsey. She must have come back and given it to him.

I nodded. "Put that somewhere safe so you can figure out what to do with it. In the meantime, however, I think you should take a shower."

He nodded and looked up at me, his eyes pleading with me for something that I knew better than to give him.

"I'm sorry, Gee, I'm not going to shower with you. That's a boundary that I'm not quite ready to cross yet."

He nodded sorrowfully. "Stay in here, though?"

I let my hand cup his cheek and brush some tears away. "Sure, Gee."

He nodded, and I turned on the water as he got undressed. I looked away as he stepped inside and when he was in, I sat on the toilet seat.

"Gee, could you give me the razors?"

The curtain opened and a razor flew out and into the trash, and then he held his out for me. I chuckled a bit and put it down on the sink.

"Thanks."

"Frankie, I hope you know I would never hurt myself because of her."

"Just making sure, Gee. I don't want you to do something rash."

"Okay. Thanks, Frankie."

"You should stop thanking me and wash yourself, boy," I chuckled.

"I'm older than you."

I heard a bottle being squeezed and smiled.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Born in 77."

"Oh. You're right. I was born in 81."

"Hehe, you're a baby," I heard him giggle, and I was glad that he was finding something funny in this whole mess of coming out and breaking up.

"Says you," I teased, and he made an offended noise.

In a few minutes, he was done, so I handed him a towel and walked out of the bathroom.

"Frankie?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get me some clothes from my bedroom?"

"Sure!" Of course, he didn't have clothes with him. I walked to the bedroom and felt like I was intruding on someone's private life. It was a weird feeling, but he'd asked me to do so, so I got a pair of sweatpants, boxers, and the first band shirt I saw for him. I walked back to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

He opened it a bit and took the clothes gratefully. He was out in mere moments, and I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around me from behind. My heart ached to lean back into him and lay my head on his shoulder and to look into his eyes and kiss him, and my cheeks turned red at the thought of doing so, but I tensed up instead and wriggled free of his grasp.

"Did you eat dinner?" I asked gently. He nodded.

"Good. I didn't mean to brush you off, c'mere," I said, and he smiled and accepted my hug.

"Thanks for taking care of me, Frankie. And please don't tell me not to thank you."

"Okay. Well, you're welcome. I'm happy to do so."

He hummed pleasantly and I felt it through my chest where his head rested. "Can you sleep over?"

"I don't know. I don't know if I should do that," I bit my lip and he looked down at me.

"Do I make you uncomfortable, Frank?" he asked, sounding a bit dismal.

"No, that's not why... See, I'd love to sleep over or have you over again, but I don't know if I necessarily should do that. I know you'd benefit from it, so I'm probably going to, but I..."

He let go of me. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked gently.

"Nothing. Really," I pleaded for him to understand that I couldn't tell him right now, but he just didn't seem to understand. He frowned.

"I thought you didn't lie to people that you cared about."

It was a low blow, but it fucking hurt. I felt tears prick my eyes, and what seemed to be a ten-tonne weight hit my chest. I leant against the wall behind me and closed my eyes, letting a few tears out.

"I-I just can't tell you right now. It would only make things worse, Gee. You don't understand."

"I think I do, Frank. I really think I do," he murmured, and got closer to me, taking my chin between his forefinger and thumb, pulling my face closer, closer.

I wanted it so badly, I wanted to feel his lips on mine, I wanted just to taste him, I wanted to wrap my arms around his neck and pull his head closer, just to close the gap between our lips. But I turned away because Ray was right. I was only going to be a rebound. I wasn't going to matter. I was only going to be there to fill the hole in Gerard's heart until he got over what had happened.

I shook my head a slinked away from him, watching him carefully as rejection and hurt spread across his face. "Frankie, I thought you... I thought we weren't just friends..."

I felt hot tears prick my eyes again.

"Well, you thought wrong. I'm not going to be your rebound. I'll be here for you because you need it, but don't fucking play with my heart," my tone was filled with guilt and mistrust, but I didn't care. He needed to hear the truth.

I let the tears roll down my cheeks, and stepped backwards down the hall towards the front door. Gerard stepped tentatively towards me, but I just stepped back again.

"Frankie," he squeaked, and I was suddenly aware that I wasn't helping him anymore. I was hurting him now, and that's not what he needed. But I had to watch out for myself too. Even though it was difficult to believe, I knew Ray was right. I deserved to be more than a rebound.

"Gerard, go and kiss whoever you want, go and sleep with whoever you want, and go out with whoever you want, let someone take her place until you're over her, but do not come running to me for love because you know I'll give it to you. I'm not going to take her place. Kiss me when you want to kiss me for me," I insisted, and finally got to the door. "Not because you need someone to fill her space. Because you want me instead of her. But until then, we're friends. And I'll help you the best I can because I fucking care about you. I really really do," I sobbed.

"Frankie," he croaked, the sound getting messed up in his throat. I held my hand up.

"My door will be unlocked tonight. You can sleep over, and I'll make you breakfast again, but don't try anything, alright?" I said, trying to be as gentle as possible as he approached me.

He nodded in response, and I ran down the stairs, swinging open my door and closing it gently, making my way to my bed and crawling into the spot Gerard was last night. It didn't smell like him anymore, but I didn't care. I was selfish. I was a selfish little bastard. It was selfish to tell him the way I did, selfish to crush him, selfish to speak to him so inconsiderately when I knew what he was going through.

And yet, when I felt the soft pressure of tears pressing on the backs of my eyes, I let the tears spill. And when I heard my door opening, closing, locking, I didn't turn around. And when I felt Gerard's arms wrap around me from behind, I let myself lean into him, let him be there for me.

"Frankie?"

Fuck. He was crying too.

"Y-yeah?"

"You're right. And you deserve so much more than I could ever give you." He paused. "Platonic girl-friends cuddle, right?"

"I think they do," I offered, and turned around, letting myself be the one being pulled closer, letting myself be the one who put his head in the crook of Gerard's neck, letting myself drift off before Gerard, knowing that he wasn't far behind me. I let myself be pitied.

"Goodnight, Frankie," I heard Gerard whisper while I slipped out of consciousness.

"G'night, Gee," was all I was able to let out before I was gone.

***

When I woke up, I was alone, Gerard was gone. Ray had been right. He just needed someone to fill the gap that Lindsey left. I shouldn't even have let Gerard into my house. I shouldn't have let him sleep over. My mind raced, fretting about everything that was going to happen from here on, regretting every decision I'd made the day before.

I jumped as a figure appeared at my doorway and I whipped my head around to look at it so fast I swear I gave myself whiplash, but it was only Gerard.

"Oh, good you're awake. I was just coming to wake you up. Breakfast is ready," he smiled at me, waiting for my rejection, but I only smiled back. I felt tears pooling in my eyes again, but I walked over to him and gave him a hug, pulling him to me, pleased when I felt his arms tighten around me too.

"Thank you so much, for this. You don't even know where anything is," I said, looking up at him, and he let go of me awkwardly.

"W-what're friends for, Frankie?" he offered me another pained smile, and I let the tears slowly trickle down my cheeks as I smiled, nodding.

***

I heard my phone ringing in the other room so I got up to answer it. By the time it had rung three times, I got to it and saw Gerard's contact. I picked up.

"Good afternoon, Gerard. Not sick of me yet?"

He let out a bright laugh. "Not really. Could I ask you for a favour though?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Lindsey says she's coming over to get her stuff and I wanted to know if you could be there with me so I don't say something I'll regret, and also to help her?"

"Well, yeah, of course. I'll be there in five minutes."

"Thanks so much," he said. "See you soon."

"See you soon," I copied, hanging up.

***

"Thanks again for helping us with all of this, Frank. And I suppose I owe you a thank you for telling Gerard about it too. You did what I would never have been brave enough to do."

I nodded. "That's what friends are for."

"Friends?" she snorted. "You guys don't have a thing going on?"

"No, not really," Gerard said, regarding her carefully.

"Well, I think you'd make a great couple," she said, smiling, and took the last box in her arms. "I guess I'll see you around. Thanks for talking civilly."

And with that, she closed the door with her foot. And she was gone. I looked at Gerard.

"Fucking finally. I'm so done with her oh my god."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. I already told you, we both fell out of love. It's an incredible loss, but I knew it was coming for a while. It still hurts, yeah, but to be honest, it wasn't unexpected. I'm just really upset with her. She seemed to be up for an open relationship, and when I asked her about it, she said no, that she'd rather just be with me. I agreed, but did that fucking stop her? No! And it wasn't even something I could blame her for! She's a fucking lesbian, and didn't even feel comfortable telling me that? Is that how awful I am?!" his voice was getting higher and higher.

I shook my head. "You're not awful."

"But aren't I?" his tone hadn't changed. I just stared at him. He needed to let this out. "She said she wanted a closed, committed relationship with me, and I gave her that! And then she has the audacity to fucking cheat on me?! I would be okay with it if she'd just come out as gay and said that she'd been experimenting and didn't want to be with me anymore! That would be fucking valid, but she fucking took my engagement ring!"

Tears were streaming down his face, and he was turning almost as red as his hair. "It was a fucking stupid idea on my part, but I was naïve and didn't know better. Now I do, but it's kind of too fucking late for that, isn't it?! But the worst part is she also lied to the girl! Jamia was lied to, and she's still taking Lindsey back!? I would never! And then after all of this, she has the fucking nerve to tell us that we would be a good couple! Maybe we wouldn't! How would she know!"

I raised an eyebrow. If he went any further, he might strike one of my nerves.

He kept going. "She says that best friend and I would be good together!? Yeah, sure, like she'd know shit about that! Us, good for each other? Because of what happened yesterday, I really don't fucking think so," he sneered.

"I know you're upset with her, but you know she only meant to be kind," I said coldly. He was one to talk. He'd been the one to try to kiss me.

"You don't know what she meant! Maybe she thought I was cheating on her with you and that's how she's been justifying things for the past couple of weeks! That's so disgusting!" he said, his face contorting with anguish.

"I'm pretty sure she did mean the best. You're villainising her," I said softly.

"No, I'm definitely not," he insisted, tears waterfalling down his cheeks. "She doesn't know shit!"

I shook my head. "Okay. Right now, talking to you isn't going to help. Is there anything I can do?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Fuck Frankie, I didn't mean it like that—I—I'm so sorry—"

"Save it," I said, and I could hear my voice getting colder. "Maybe you need to talk it out with someone who wasn't there. That helps me a lot when I'm in situations similar to this."

"Frankie, I'm so sorry."

"I think I'm gonna call Mikey. Would that be okay?"

He nodded this time.

"Th-thanks, Frankie."

I pulled out my phone and called Ray instead. Maybe he could give me Mikey's number. I didn't really feel like asking Gerard right now. He probably didn't even know where his phone was.

"Hey, Ray, do you know where Mikey is?"

"Hey, Frank. Yeah, he's here with me."

He didn't seem breathless, and he'd picked up on the second ring so that seemed okay.

"Am I interrupting anything?" I asked, and Ray laughed.

"No, no. Not at the moment," and I heard a giggle from the other side.

"Am I on speaker?"

"Maybe..." Ray trailed off.

"Look, I'm really sorry to be interrupting your time together, but Gerard really needs to talk to Mikey about something that just happened. Would you be able to come over anytime soon, Mikey?"

"Uh... yeah, sure. Give me like fifteen minutes and I'll be there."

"Take your time lover-boys, but don't overdo it, obviously," I chuckled and heard Ray and Mikey giggling like school girls.

"Okay, I'll be there in like half an hour, then," Mikey said. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah. See you then. Ray, can I come over?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, thanks so much. See you, guys."

They hung up and I turned to Gerard. "I don't think I need to explain what's happening?"

He shook his head.

"Okay. I'll stay with you until Mikey gets here, but then I have to go."

"Okay. You deserve some time to yourself too. I'm so, so, sorry Frank."

"Just drop it, Gee. Please?"

***

"Yeah, and he just seemed so disgusted by Lindsey even mentioning that we'd be good for each other."

"But he almost kissed you yesterday?"

"Yeah, but I think that was mostly out of pity, to be honest."

"Look, Frank, I think he really likes you. I'd give him some time to settle down and get used to living alone, but I really don't think his feelings are going anywhere."

I felt my face filling up with blood. "Really?"

"Well, I obviously can't see inside his head, but yeah. I really do think he likes you. He talks about you to Mikey all the time."

"Are you two dating?"

"Yeah, he's my boyfriend now. Has been for a couple of weeks," he blushed and I nudged his shoulder.

"You're so far gone, Ray. That's adorable."

"He's just so sweet and hot and adorable and oh Jesus, I could go on forever, but I'm not going to bore you with my love life. We're talking about yours."

"I guess."

"I guess," he mocked me. "So, he basically rejected the idea of you guys like... ever being together?"

"Well, kind of. He just said that because I rejected his kiss yesterday and told him I didn't wanna be used, he said like..." I sniffed a bit and continued. "He said 'because of what happened yesterday, we'd never work out' or something like that."

Ray bit his bottom lip. "Shit, Frankie, I really don't know what to tell you."

"You don't have to tell me any—"

"You know, actually I do know what to tell you. As I said, he's been talking a lot about you to Mikey, even before he and Lindsey broke up. Apparently, the day after the concert, he was phoning Mikey and he was telling him about the 'falling out of love with Lindsey a long time ago' thing and about how he'd felt about you. This is classified information, so don't tell anyone I told you this," he said, smirking slightly before continuing, "But apparently, he told Mikey he'd never felt so strongly about anyone before. He really fucking likes you, Frank. I wouldn't end your friendship right here. You said he apologised right?"

I nodded, suddenly aware of the blush creeping up my neck and ears, joining with the blush on my cheeks. "He seemed really adamant on apologising, but I don't know. I somehow didn't believe it."

Ray shrugged. "Obviously I wasn't there to gauge the situation, but I think you should hear out his apology. I think it'd do you good."

I nodded. "I just didn't think he felt that way about me."

He shrugged. "That's just what Mikey tells me he says all the time. But are you gonna hear out his apology?" he insisted.

I bit my lip. "Yeah. I think I will."


	4. part four - tearful apologies

I picked up my phone and dialled Gerard's number. He definitely was not okay right now, and besides, I did tell Ray I would hear out an apology that Gee was desperate to give me.

Gerard must have already been on his phone because he picked up in the middle of the first ring.

"Frank! I was just about to call you," he said quickly, and I practically see the desperation on his face.

"Hey Gee," I said coldly.

"Can you come over? I wanna talk, and I just want you to hear me out, okay? Please?"

"Yeah. I want to hear what you wanna say anyways. When should I come up?"

"In like ten minutes?"

"That's cool. I might be a little later. I was going to go to the coffee shop really quick," I said, grabbing my keys and locking my door behind me. I pushed the button to go down the elevator. Maybe being nice to him would help. "Would you like anything?"

"Umm, mocha latte?"

"Yeah sure. Iced? It's fuckin' hot out."

"Please?"

"Of course. I'll see you soon, Gee," I sighed.

"Thanks so much," he said quietly. "See you in a bit."

I hung up and closed my eyes, rubbing my temples. I was just going to hear him out. Maybe tell him how I felt. Maybe tell him how much what he'd said had really hurt me. But maybe I shouldn't. Maybe he didn't need to hear that right now.

***

I knocked on Gerard's door, and he answered it a minute later, tucking freshly washed hair behind his ears, a towel still in his hands, which were stained red.

I raised an eyebrow.

"The conditioner I use has red dye in it, and I gave up on using gloves a while ago," he said quietly. I nodded. "Oh, come in," he said nervously and I followed him inside while he closed the door. He disappeared for a few seconds and came back without the towel in his hands.

"How are you?" I asked, handing him his coffee.

"Oh my god, thanks so much," he said. "I'm doing okay. I'm glad you're here. How are you?"

I shrugged. "Could be better. Thanks for asking."

"How much was the coffee?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Frankie, I—"

"Oh hush, don't worry about it. It's the least I could do," I struggled to smile at him, and I'm pretty sure it was just a grimace because he nodded gratefully and didn't smile back. 

"Come and sit down," he said and led me to the sofa. "I have so much to say."

"Me too, Gee. Me too," I sighed, and looked at him, drinking up the sparkle in his hazel eyes, the damp hair that clung to his forehead, the ghost of a smile that was caused by me just being here, the guilt that was radiating off of him.

He took a sip of his coffee. "First of all, I just want to say I'm so, so sorry for what I said last night about us not being good together. I know you have feelings for me, Frankie, it's kind of obvious," he chuckled nervously, and I felt myself blush. I took a sip of my coffee too.

"I—"

"And I have feelings for you too. Like big-time. But I think you might have already known that. But none of that matters because you're right. I'm super lonely, and I need someone to replace Lindsey, and I understand what you mean about not wanting to be a rebound. Because even though I do like you, you probably would be one, and that's the last thing I want you to be to me. You're an amazing friend, and I want to keep you around, so I'm not going to do anything right now, 'kay?"

"Th-thanks," I mumbled and looked at the condensation on my plastic cup. I took another sip. "I really appreciate that."

He nodded. "I'm sorry for being such an arse to you yesterday too. You really held me back from exploding on Lindsey, and I think once she was gone, I needed something to take all of my anger out on, and it came out on you, and that was the wrong way to go about things."

I nodded. "Yeah, it was, but it's over now, and I hope you learned something from that." I took another sip of my coffee. I didn't smile at him. He swallowed nervously and nodded.

"So, I'm really sorry about that. You're right. I did learn a lesson. I learned that I shouldn't take what I have for granted, and I learned that there are better ways of taking your emotion out on things that won't get hurt."

"That's good." I crossed my ankles and maintained eye contact.

"And I also would just like to apologise for being so needy and kind of a shit friend, and just for being an arse about this whole ordeal and—"

"Shut up, you don't need to apologise for those things." I rolled my eyes. "You're not a shit friend, you're just going through shit and are learning how to deal with it. I told you I'd be here for you, and I care about you in more than one way, so I'm just doing my best to help you through."

"Oh my god, Frankie! Stop being so fucking nice to me. It's not as if I haven't dealt with a break up before. I should be a better friend; I should know how to—"

"Gerard, can you please shut the fuck up? As far as I know, you've never dealt with breaking off an engagement, so I don't think you have anything to apologise for. Yes, you need to own up to the fact that you've kind of been a hot mess, but you don't need to apologise for it. You don't need sympathy, you need help. And I'm here to give that to you."

My tone was probably too harsh because he looked like he'd been slapped in the face, but his eyes also leaked of gratitude. He needed a metaphorical slap in the face.

"You need to stop fucking apologising for going through the motions of a breakup. It's natural to be this torn apart, and natural to need someone there for you. And I'm gonna be here for you. Okay, Gee?"

I could see little tears pooling in his eyes, and a tiny smile forming on his lips. "You're the best, Frankie."

I shrugged. "I do what I can. Now, I don't know about you, but if I were in your place, I'd wanna go out instead of being cooped up in a flat all day. Would you like to see a movie and get some dinner?" I asked, trying to get out of my cold mindset. He didn't need to be yelled at.

"Friends do that, right?" he asked apprehensively.

"I mean, I just did it with Ray and he's been dating your brother for two weeks so yeah," I said, my tone softening.

His eyes sparkled. "Yeah. Cool. I'll come down to your apartment around six?"

"Yeah. Ray and Mikey saw the Shining and they thought it was good. Do you wanna see it?"

"Sure! Tickets are on me, though," he offered me a small smile.

"Then dinner is on me," I finally smiled, and I could practically see his eyes lighting up. "I wanna do something nice for you. You need some time to have fun."

"Now there's the sweet old Frankie I know," he said with a grin and walked me to the door.

***

"I think I'm gonna have fucking nightmares," Gerard said, shaking his hands and feet out as we walked out of the theatre.

"Dude, seriously?" I said, laughing and throwing away our bag of popcorn.

He nodded. "I'm not good with scary movies."

"Apparently Mikey isn't either. Ray told me Mikey called him at three in the morning because he'd had a nightmare."

Gerard laughed. "That's my little brother. I think he's in love with Ray. He won't shut up about him."

I laughed too. "Ray won't either. It's really adorable."

Gerard bit his lip and looked down at me, his smile turning a little sad. "Yeah, it really is."

"Anyways. Whaddya wanna do for dinner?"

"Anything's fine with me. I could actually really go for pizza right now. You know Valentino's down the street from here."

"Yeah. Best goddamn pizza I've ever had. Get in the car before I zoom off without you," I joked, and he giggled.

***

"Hey Ray, is Mikey with you?"

"Not at the moment, no. I literally just dropped him off after our date. Why?"

"Damn. Well, would you two like to get some coffee with me and Gee tomorrow?"

"Who's Gee? Oh! That's adorable. Um, sure... let me call him."

"Cool. Does five o'clock work?"

"Probably. I'll call him. See you tomorrow, Iero."

"Bye, Toro," I grinned and hung up.

"You call each other by last names?" Gerard asked from beside me on the sofa, sipping from his mug of coffee.

"Yeah, I don't know when we started doing it, but it happened and we never really stopped," I said, laughing softly and thinking back. "Yeah, I really cannot remember when it started."

"That's cute," Gerard smirked, and we both blushed and looked away from each other. This was really painful, but if Gerard thought it was necessary, and I listened to Ray's advice, it was probably for the best.

I took a long drink of my coffee.

"It's getting really late, I should probably head back to mine," I sighed, and finished my coffee.

"Yeah, I guess I should probably try to catch up on sleep. "I'm getting sleepy from the pizza. I don't think this coffee is helping much," we laughed, and I stood up stretching.

"I'll see you and the others around five tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'll text you if anything changes."

He nodded.

"Well, goodnight, Frankie."

"Goodnight, Gee." I smiled a bit and walked out of the door.

I saw Gerard's eyes on my arse, and I sighed to myself. It just be like that.

***

"Wait, I play bass. We could totally form a band," Mikey said.

"Yeah, but I suck at drums," Ray admitted, taking another swig of his drink. "I'm much better at guitar."

"I know a guy called Bob who plays drums and synth. I could ask him if he wants to play with us?" Gerard said, and I smiled.

"Yeah! We should totally jam. It'd give us something to do over the summer," I said, letting a small smile rest on my lips. I finished my drink. "Anyone else got trash they want me to throw out?"

Ray and Mikey gave me their cups, and I carried the three of our paper cups awkwardly to the recycling because I like the earth, thanks. When I sat down again, Gerard smirked at me.

"Fuckin' vegan," he muttered and grinned.

"Actually, I'm vegetarian, thanks," I cocked an eyebrow at him and crossed my arms defiantly.

"Same thing."

"Not at all, bro," Mikey said, laughing. "You're just dumb."

Gerard mocked offence. "Wow, my own little brother betrayed me."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't belong to you, arsehole. You're not Ray."

"You don't belong to me either, Mikes," Ray said disapprovingly.

"No, but I am yours," he grinned up at Ray, who blushed and kissed his forehead.

Gerard and I both made gagging sounds on cue, and they turned cherry red.

"You guys are disgusting," Gerard said, and I nodded. I mean, it wasn't disgusting. It was adorable, and their happiness was actually really contagious, but I rolled my eyes and smirked anyways as Gerard finished his coffee. I snatched his cup and put it in the recycling before he could throw it in the trash.

"So, how does tomorrow around two sound to jam? I have a drumkit in my garage," Ray said, and we all nodded.

"That sounds great. Let me text Bob right now," Gerard said and pulled out his phone. "Done."

"I'm so excited!" Ray said, a little smile showing on his lips.

"I'm just glad I won't have to play the drums," Ray said smirking.

"Oh, Bob just texted back. He said he'd love to but he can only stay till like five."

"I think that's plenty of time," Ray said, smiling, and we all agreed.

Ray and Mikey held hands as they walked out of the coffee shop, leaving me and Gerard alone together once again. He uncrossed his legs and put his chin in his hands, looking at me across the table. I felt butterflies erupt in my chest and I could feel myself blushing. I don't know how much longer I was going to be able to put up with this, but I frowned looking down at my hands folded in my lap.

"Frankie, what's wrong?" I could hear the concern laced in his voice.

"I—" I looked up at the clock, then at him and smiled slightly. "I'll tell you some other time, I promise, 'kay, Gee?"

"Sure. I'm gonna hold you to that, Frank," he smiled back, and I nodded.

"I think I should get going. Ray and I are racing to see who can finish the New 52 Suicide Squad comics first, and he's getting ahead. I'm going to walk to the comic store. You can join me if you want."

"No that's okay. I like looking at comics alone, so I'll leave you to it. I've gotta finish up some sketches anyways. I'll see you tomorrow," he smiled and we both stood up and walked to the door.

As we walked out, we hit a wall of summer's humidity and heat and cringed. "Yeah, I'll see you around," I smiled back, and we parted ways.

***

The walk to the comic shop from my house was a short one, but it was a little bit longer from the coffee shop. The heat was a little much, but I finally made it to the cool dark store and sighed as I walked inside. There was no one in sight, not even at the register and I frowned in confusion, walking to where I knew the DC comics were located.

As soon as I turned the corner of the massive bookshelves and saw the DC aisle I jumped back in surprise.

"Ray? Mikey?" They pulled apart quickly, detaching their tongues, lips, and bodies from one another, each turning a deep shade of red.

"Uh, hey, Frank," Mikey said, and cleared his throat, looking down at the floor. "Is there anything I can help you find?"

"You're in the middle of a shift?"

His cheeks turned an even darker red. "Yeah, I'm the only one here today. No one really comes in on Wednesdays you know? I didn't hear the bell on the door."

I stepped back and looked at the door. The bell lay on the floor beside it.

"It seems to have fallen off," I shifted awkwardly on my feet. "I can fix it if you want...?"

"No, that's my job. Don't worry about it," he rubbed the back of his neck, but he didn't move towards it. He just leant into Ray, who wrapped an arm around his waist.

"I'm uh... I'm sorry for interrupting, but could you move your makeout session to the Marvel section? I'm trying to get the last volume of Suicide Squad."

"Y-yeah," Ray said, and smirked. "Sure. Mikey has to ring you up, so don't worry we won't do anything else."

"While you're here," Mikey added and I rolled my eyes, pretending to gag.

"You guys are nasty," I chuckled, and they laughed with me.

"Yeahh," they said in unison and I raised an eyebrow.

"God, that's weird," I muttered, and they laughed while I took the volume out of the shelf and walked to the counter.

"I'll get out of your hair so you can keep sticking your tongues down each other's throats now," I said as I paid for the comic.

"Th-thanks, I guess," Mikey said awkwardly and gave me an embarrassed smile. "Here you go. Do you want a bag?"

"No. Plastic kills the environment, Mikey. You should really switch to paper or like sell cloth bags."

"Hey wait, that's actually a good idea. I'll tell my boss about that. We could make bags with the store's name on it and save some trees," his eyes lit up and Ray chuckled.

"Frank, you should work here. They'd love you."

"I'll think about it. I don't really want to walk in on another one of your sessions though," I said and shoved Ray lightly.

He shrugged. "What'd you expect?"

"For there to be someone at the fucking counter that's what!" I laughed, and Mikey rolled his eyes, sitting on the counter, and pulling Ray towards him in between his legs. Ray's hands immediately fell to Mikey's hips.

"Better?"

"God, don't scar me like that," I joked and put the bell back on the door. "I'll see you two tomorrow," I laughed with them as I swung the door open, hearing the bells fall against it and chime. I shook my head and grinned.

Ray's POV because I felt like writing Rikey.

As soon as Frank walked out of the store, I felt Mikey's legs tighten around my waist, pulling me towards him. I smiled up at him, taking in his gorgeous features before kissing him again, slowly and sweetly.

He pulled away gently and draped his arms over my shoulders. "We staring over, babe?"

"I mean, Frank kind of ruined what was going on. Plus, this is kind of hotter than just standing up in an aisle."

He kissed me again, humming into my lips. "True. I like this better too," he mumbled against my lips and I smiled, pulling away and pressing our foreheads together.

"You're so beautiful, Mikes," I said, and kissed him softly. "I could look at you forever."

"Is that so?" he said chuckling, and I nodded. "Could you kiss me forever?"

"Yeah, I think I could."

"Show me," he said, his voice deepening unconsciously, his hips pressing against me.

I grinned and captured his lips in mine and moved our mouths together. His tongue hurried to brush over my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth, letting him in. As we kissed, his hands made their way up to my hair, pulling on it gently, and mine slipped under his shirt, rubbing little circles into the skin beneath it with my thumbs. His breath hitched at this so I continued doing so, biting his lip softly.

He let out a little moan at this, so I kissed his jaw, his neck, his collarbones, my mouth open and my tongue swirling on his skin. He let out another soft moan, so I bit down on the skin right below his jaw, sucking at the skin as I did so. I let my bites trail down his neck, leaving small hickeys down the side, and he pulled at my hair, making both of our breathing uneven, making both of us moan softly.

My lips finally met his again, and he hummed in content, pulling me closer, but I slowed down our kisses and he followed me, opening his eyes slowly as we pulled apart.

"Y-you should do that more often, babe," he said nervously, slightly out of breath and smiling at me. "That felt really nice."

I smiled back and he removed his hands from my hair. "I'll keep it in mind," I winked and his cheeks went bright red.

"Oh, shit!" he said out of nowhere, his face falling. "I was supposed to restock the Marvel comics that we just sold out of!"

I leant back, immediately noticing the bright purple bruises on his neck, and smiling to myself. He looked really hot with them, and I regretted not doing this earlier.

"W-what're you looking at?" he said, suddenly self-conscious. His hand flew up to his neck and his eyes widened. "Oh my god, Gerard and Frank are gonna see! Fuck! And also that guy, Bob!"

"I don't think they'll mind," I said, leaning into him again and kissing over a few of the hickeys. His breath hitched, and he inhaled sharply as I ran my tongue up his throat. "Besides, you look really hot with them. Now everyone will know that you're mine," I whispered into his ear, and he shivered, wrapping his arms around my neck again and kissed me.

"Mm, I guess that's good." He pulled back and smiled, his cheeks bright red. "Babe, you're amazing, but oh my god. You didn't hold back, did you? I can feel the bruises," he laughed, and I shrugged.

"Next time I won't leave them where people can see them," I said, and he took out his phone, turning on his front facing camera to examine the damage.

"You know," he mumbled, his cheeks turning even redder. "I really don't think I want you to hold back. I kind of like them."

"I'll keep that in mind too," I said, smiling at him and bringing his chin up to kiss him again. "Now, you said you needed me to keep you company while you restocked something?"


	5. part five - hickeys and instruments

Okay, back to Frank's POV

"Oh my god, Mikes I don't need to see that you've made out with Ray!" Gerard shrieked and shielded his eyes as he and I walked into Ray's garage.

"He looks like you molested him, bro," I chortled, and nudged Ray in the ribs. He turned red, shrugging. Mikey wrapped an arm around Ray's waist and put his head on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, he did anything but that, Frank," he giggled, and Gerard and I groaned as I started setting up my guitar.

"Ew, you guys!" Gerard said, walking over to me and sitting down on the amp my guitar was plugged into.

"I didn't even tell you what I fucking walked into in the comic store, Gee," I sighed, and shook my head at them in mock disapproval.

"Oh my god, were they fucking in the store?" he yelled, and we heard a car door close.

I shook my head and looked outside to see a dismal-looking natural redhead walking towards the garage.

"No, thank god, but their tongues were practically in each other's throats, it was gross," I laughed and Gerard fake gagged again. When he saw the guy that was walking towards us, he grinned.

"Guys, this is Bob," he said as Bob walked in.

"Hey," he said, his tone dismal too. "It's lovely to meet you." He actually smiled, and I could tell this was a rare occurrence, so I smiled back.

"I'm Frank. It's nice to meet you."

Ray and Mikey introduced themselves too, unlinking themselves from each other and picking up their instruments.

Bob reached into his pocket, pulling out drumsticks. "What should we play?"

***

"I never thought I'd be playing Radiohead with a bunch of punks like you," Ray chuckled and the rest of us laughed as we ended the song.

"I love Radiohead," Mikey grinned. "Plus, Colin Greenwood is one of my favourite bassists."

"Yeah, and their drummer?" Bob said. "Amazing."

We all nodded in agreement.

"I have time to stay for like one more song," Bob said, checking his watch. "What do you guys wanna play?"

"Umm, how about Bowie? Do you guys know 'Suffragette city?' It's kind of pop punk," I said. Everyone nodded enthusiastically, especially Gerard, and I grinned. "In A?"

I began with the rhythm, and Ray came in copying me, adding in solos here and there. Gerard's voice sounded amazing, and Mikey's riff fit right in. Of course, Bob was just amazing with his kit, and we let him solo for a bit with Mikey.

"That was so sick," Bob said, wiping his brow and tucking his drumsticks in his back pocket. "I'd love to jam with you guys again. I think playing together for the first time, and without preparing any songs, we sounded pretty good."

"Yeah! Totally. This should become a thing," Ray agreed, and Mikey, Gerard, and I nodded, all donning smiles.

"Thanks again for inviting me. See you guys again soon," Bob said, walking towards his car, and waving.

Gerard sat down on the amp I was plugged into again, and I reached under his leg to turn it off. His face turned red, and I ignored it, unplugging and putting away my cord.

"That was really cool," I said, putting my guitar back into its case. "I'm really glad we did this."

"Bob's amazing, by the way, Gerard. You make great friends," Ray grinned at him.

Gerard looked at me for a moment conflictedly and then back up at Ray. "I really do."

Ray stood there frowning, and I realised he was not only wallowing in our awkwardness but also waiting for us to leave. I raised an eyebrow at him, tilting my head towards Mikey, and he blushed, smirking a little bit. Mikey walked up to him, and Ray's arm immediately slipped around his waist protectively. I smiled knowingly at this.

"Gerard," I tore my eyes away from their happiness and looked up to Gerard, "I believe I had something to tell you, and Mikey and Ray probably wanna even out Mikey's hickeys so they're not all on one side," I looked up at them, and noted that both of their faces were red. Mikey hid his face in Ray's chest. "So, we should get going. Right?"

"Yeah," Gerard snickered. "Use protection, please. I don't want either of you dying of AIDS."

I slapped his bicep. "Gerard! That's so insensitive."

"I told you I was awful," he smiled at me.

"I guess you really are, aren't you? Now I can feel them getting antsy, let's go," I teased, and Mikey turned completely away from us, his face hidden in Ray's chest. Ray's arms snaked around him instinctually and he rolled his eyes at me even though his face was still bright red.

"Just... go, guys," he snickered, and kissed the top of Mikey's head.

"Alright, we're leaving, you horny motherfuckers," Gerard cackled and Ray shook his head, smiling to himself.

Gerard pulled me out of the garage, and into his car. He had driven both of us here, so I put my things in his backseat again and sat in the passenger seat.

As Gerard backed out of the driveway, I saw Mikey smile at Ray, leaning up and kissing him. I smiled through the pang of jealousy that I felt at their relationship. I wanted to have that with Gerard more than anything, but I was just so scared of being used. It'd only been a week or so since Lindsey had left, and I really didn't want to take my chances.

***

"Do you want some coffee?" I asked Gerard after putting my guitar back into my music room.

"That'd actually be incredible," Gerard smiled softly at me and looked at me in that way that made my heart twist, the way that made me want to kiss him until we were breathless, the way that made me want to feel him in my arms again or to be in his arms myself.

I shook my head, stopped staring, and walked into the kitchen. I felt him follow me and looked up to see him leant against the counter. I raised an eyebrow and he hopped up to sit on it. I grinned and opened a cabinet under him, getting out the French press and coffee.

"Ooh, fancy," he smirked at me and I shrugged.

"I think it tastes best made with a French press."

He giggled, and I rolled my eyes.

A few minutes later, our coffee was ready so I poured two mugs, and Gerard jumped off the counter and took his, following me into the living room. We sat on the sofa and put our mugs on the coffee table, waiting for them to cool.

"So, Frankie, I've been dying to hear what you have to say," Gerard said and sat with his legs crossed in his lap.

"I—" I paused and looked at my hands. He needed to hear what I had to say. It wasn't fair that I was keeping this from him. He didn't need one more thing to deal with right now, so I bit my lip, thinking about how to word it. "Well, you know how you apologised for what you said the other night?"

He nodded, and we both paused to take a drink of our coffee.

"I never really got to tell you how what you said made me feel. I didn't tell you because I didn't think you needed to know, but now that you've admitted some other things, I feel like I should," I said, choosing my words carefully.

He nodded again. I could tell he was listening intently, wanting to hear every word that came out of my mouth.

"When you said those things, you made me feel like shit. I was really upset when you said that we wouldn't be good for each other, especially because you mentioned that it was because of what I'd said the day before about not wanting to be used by you. It's stupid, I know—it's literally the most stupid thing ever—and I really don't think it would have affected me the way it did if I didn't have major feelings for you." I sighed. It was too late to try to hide anything anyways.

"I like you, Gerard. I like you a lot, and I love being your friend, it's amazing, but I just want so much more. I want you all to myself, I want to be the one you want, I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine, but it's too early, and it's not fair on you. And I knew if I told you that I was upset with what you'd said, I'd have to tell you that I like you. You seemed to have known anyway," I said, my cheeks getting redder by the second.

Gerard didn't move. I knew he was scared of doing so. But he did talk.

"I want that too, Frankie," he didn't make eye contact with me, he just looked at his hands. "I want you. I've never felt this strongly about anyone before. And I know it's a cliché to say something like that. I know it's fucking cheesy, but it's true. The way you make me feel is so different... so... so nice."

He looked up at me, and I saw the raw emotion in his gorgeous sparkly eyes.

"I want you, Frankie," he said again. "And not because I'm lonely, not because I need someone to be with. It's because every minute away from you I spend thinking about you—whether I'm conscious of it or not. When you hold me, it feels like we were meant to hold each other. I don't care about anyone else. I would seek you out just to be with you. I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, Frankie," he said, and I could feel both of our bodies leaning closer together.

I sighed and broke eye contact. "You really mean that?"

"Mhm," he hums, and his thumb and forefinger gently brought my chin up so I'm making eye contact again, and I melted under his touch. "I've never meant anything more in my life. I need you, Frankie. I need you because you're you. Because you're gorgeous, because you're funny, because you look fucking sexy playing that white Gibson SG of yours, because you look adorable when you sleep, because of the way you blush when you see me, because of the way my heart runs a goddamn marathon every time I see you."

I bit my lip. He was really fucking pouring his heart out to me, and my heart just couldn't seem to get enough. It was racing, twisting, butterflies erupting in my stomach, blush spreading across my cheeks, neck, and chin where he was still holding it. I ached to kiss him, longed to hold him in my arms.

"Gee," I said, almost under my breath, and he let go of my chin. I frowned when he did so, but he didn't hold it again. "Oh, god. How do you... Your words, they're fucking beautiful, I don't know how to say that I feel the exact same way about you. You—you... you really have a way with words, and I just... I feel the exact same way."

He blushed, and I let my hand fall into his. We sat like this for a while, actually for what seemed like forever until he spoke again.

"Frankie," he said softly, smiled, and his eyes sparkled more than I'd ever seen them sparkle before. "Do you wanna be my boyfriend?"

So, I kissed him. I finally did it. His lips were soft against mine, shock and excitement apparent on them, and I smiled, wrapping my arms around his neck. He seemed to regain his senses, and he kissed me back, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me onto his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist, loving the feeling of his lips on mine, but he pulled away from me, slowing down.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking away quickly. "Fuck! Did I fuck things up? Shit, I'm so fucking sorry Gee, I didn't mean to push you into anything—I—"

"Hey, hey, calm down," he said, and took my cheek in his left hand, pulling me in for a short kiss. "I just want your answer before I do something I'll regret."

"Uh, yes!? Of fucking course, I'll be your boyfriend!" I cried, unable to control the smile that was growing on my face. "And you'll be mine?" I asked shyly.

"As long as you want me," he said, smiling too, and I wrapped my arms more tightly around him, breathing in his scent, feeling his body fit perfectly with mine, hugging him as close to myself as I could.

"Of course, I want you, dumbass. Didn't I just say?" I grinned and he pulled me away slightly so he could kiss me again, and of course, I melted as his hands settled on my waist, pulling my hips closer to him.

"I've waited so long to do this," he mumbled against my lips and I giggled.

"And to think I ever thought you were straight."

"Actually," he rested his forehead on mine. "I think I might be gay. Every time I think back and compare what I feel for you to what I did for Lindsey, it's incomparable what I feel for you. You make me feel like I'm floating, and she made me feel grounded; like a best friend should, you know?"

I nodded. "So, I waited all this time to kiss you for nothing?"

"Well, I wouldn't say for nothing. I needed time to sort out my feelings, and I think you did too."

"You're right. You're so right," I whispered and smiled. "Then I'm glad we waited the few weeks that we did."

"I mean, you know that idiom—you always want what you can't have?"

"Yeah."

"I think the polarizing friend-zone I got from you only made me fall even harder for you," he blushed, the smile on his lips uncontrollable as well. I reached up to stroke his cheek, and he closed his eyes.

"Gee?"

"Yes, Frankie?"

"Kiss me again," I said hesitantly, smiling a bit as he pressed his lips to mine gently.

"It'd be my honour," he murmured and his hand pulled my lips to his again, savouring my lips in his, holding me like I was fragile and I was about to break, his touch gentle and protective. His tongue slid across my bottom lip, and I immediately opened my mouth, dying to taste him against my lips. His taste of coffee and mint Chapstick mixed with whatever the hell mine was and I ran my hands through his hair gently as our tongues explored each other's mouths.

He bit my bottom lip gently, too gently, and I gasped, tugging on his hair signalling my need for more, and he fucking giggled, placing soft, sweet kisses down my neck.

"Gee," I whined.

He looked up at me instantly. "Did I do something wrong? I'm so sorry!"

"Shh," I brought his lips to mine. "You're treating me like I'm gonna shatter," I chuckled at his red cheeks.

"That's because I don't wanna hurt you, Frankie," he murmured.

"Mm," I hummed and rolled my eyes. "That makes sense."

He smiled and went to kiss me again, but I placed my finger on his lips and bent to whisper in his ear.

"Bite me, Gee," I whispered and he shuddered. I think I may have triggered a side of him that I hadn't ever seen before, because he pushed me onto my back, hands running up my thighs, lips trailing kisses down my neck, sucking randomly, trying to find something. And I knew exactly when he did.

He bit me right below my ear, sucking tenderly, and I moaned—too loudly—causing him to grin. He kept at it around there, biting and sucking on my skin. I tugged on his hair, my breathing becoming uneven and letting out tiny moans here and there. He let his teeth and tongue travel downwards, leaving a few hickeys where they would be in plain sight. He let his lips and tongue travel up my neck and finally settle at my lips, our tongues intertwining again, before slowing down and coming to a stop.

I gasped, and kissed him softly again. He drew away soon, though, both of us breathing heavily.

"G-god, we're as bad as Mikey and Ray," I gasped.

"We're gonna be worse though," he snickered. "I'm a verse."

I grinned. "Me too," and kissed him. "But right now, I'm really enjoying your uh..."

"Possessiveness?" he guessed, and my cheeks went impossibly redder. "That's because you're finally mine, and I want people to see, Frankie."

I kissed him again, nodding slowly. "I'm all yours, Gee."

He hummed against my lips, and we both smiled, making our lips part and break the kiss. He giggled and I joined in. He pulled us back to a sitting position, and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"You know what?" I said softly, and he smiled.

"Hm?"

"If people get to see that I'm yours, then they'll get to see that you're mine too," I mumbled against his neck, and I felt him shiver. I placed my lips gently to the base of his neck, softly sucking at it and trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses up his neck.

"F-Frankie," he gasped when I bit next to his Adam's apple and I smiled. Sucking and biting around the area, I grinned, feeling his arms hold me tighter, his nails digging into my back. This time, I pushed him backwards gently on the sofa so that his head settled on a pillow and I was straddling him. His head turned to the side and his eyes squeezed shut in pleasure as I kissed and sucked in various spots up and down his neck, doing my best to make it so they'd last longer.

I brought my lips back up to his and kissed him gently, savouring the feeling of his lips against mine while I had him under me. When I felt our lips parting, I drew back, admiring the work I'd done on his neck. I bit my lip as he looked up at me.

"God, Frankie, that was amazing," he mumbled, his cheeks flushed a slight pink, his hair tousled and spread out around his head. I kissed him again and hummed against his lips.

"We can do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that if you want to," I mumbled. "Now that you're mine, of course."

He nodded. "And now that you're mine."

I helped him sit up and he smiled at me, running a hand through my hair. "You're so beautiful."

"You're more beautiful," I said, smiling at the feeling of his hands in my hair, and closed my eyes, crawling onto his lap again.

"Fucking impossible," he whispered and cupped my cheek again. I didn't open my eyes, expecting his lips on mine, and I wasn't surprised when I felt them press softly to my own.

When we opened our eyes and stopped kissing, I burst out laughing.

"Gee, we let our coffee get cold."

"That's okay. It's getting late anyway. We really let the time slip away from us."

"I don't mind."

"Me neither," he giggled. "We should probably go to bed, but I don't wanna leave you."

"Stay the night," I said as if it was obvious.

"You'd let me?"

"If we cuddled and fell asleep together when we were 'platonic,'" I accentuated the words with my fingers, "Then we can definitely do the same now that we're boyfriends."

He grinned. "Can I borrow clothes again? I don't feel like going upstairs right now."

"You just like wearing my clothes," I smirked.

"Hey... They smelled like you last time, and it was a major guilty-pleasure trip," he blushed harder and I kissed his nose.

"Darling, of course, you can borrow my clothes. And you don't even have to feel guilty this time."

***

I woke up to Gerard kissing my neck where he'd bitten it the night before. I sighed happily, rolling towards him.

"Morning, Frankie," he said, and I smiled, not opening my eyes yet.

"G'morning, Gee," I yawned, and then forced myself to slowly open my eyes.

"I'm gonna make breakfast, sleep some more, okay?"

I nodded, not really comprehending what was going on, and closed my eyes, smiling when he kissed my sore neck again. I fell back asleep almost instantly, not noticing his absence quite yet. But when I did, I was suddenly awake enough to follow the smell of pancakes to the kitchen.

I saw Gerard facing the stove, still wearing my shirt and shorts from last night that rode a little too high up on his legs, showing me more than I should probably have seen at that moment. I strode over and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind him, resting my chin on his shoulder.

"Morning, baby," I said, trying out the nickname.

"I like the nicknames, Frankie. I didn't expect them so early on."

"I've been waiting to call you my baby forever, Gee," I said and felt his blush on his neck. "Here, let me help you cut some fruit—"

"No, you sit on the counter and act all cute like usual, and I'll make breakfast."

"But it's my flat! I can't expect my guest to cook for me!"

"I'm your boyfriend, so shut up. Besides, I like cooking for you, even though you're vegan."

"I'm vegetarian, asshole, and I like cooking for you too!" I pouted, and he turned towards me, picked me up and put me on the counter.

"You'll have more than enough opportunities to do so, darling. Let me do this for once. Boyfriends do things like this for each other, right?"

I nodded. "You're right."

He kissed me, and I kissed back right away, turning to putty at his touch. When he pulled away, I couldn't help but smile at him. He smiled back, taking my cheek in his hand and rubbing it softly. Then, he placed a kiss on my forehead and flipped the pancake over.

"That's the last of them anyways," he said and slid it onto a large pile. "Now let me cut some fruit and make some coffee and we can eat."

"At least let me make coffee, Gee," I reasoned with him, but he shook his head.

"You'll have—"

"I know, I know. I'll have plenty of opportunities to make coffee, but I don't care. It'll speed up the process. It's not that hard to do."

"Frank—"

"Please, just let me make it, Gee," I said desperately, and he raised an eyebrow.

"You know... I think I like it when you beg."

My face felt like it was set on fire. I looked at him, my eyes wide, and my mouth slightly open.

"Fine, you can make the coffee, darling," he said—as if he'd not just said what he had.

"I—I—"

"Yes, Frankie?"

"Fuck you," I muttered as I hopped off the counter and began to boil water.

Gerard giggled, pulling out a few boxes of fruit. "Bet you want to."


	6. part six - major propositions

"Hey, Gee," I said running my hands through my wet hair and holding up my phone with my shoulder, pressing it to the side of my head as I opened my closet door and looked at my clothes.

"Miss me already?" he giggled into the phone.

"Mhm," I laughed. "Actually, I wanted to ask you out on a date. Properly. Do you wanna get dinner and see a movie not as friends this time?"

"I would absolutely love that, Frankie. I was going to ask you in a couple of days because I didn't want to seem desperate," he admitted, and I could practically see the blush on his cheeks.

"You shouldn't worry about that kind of thing, baby," I said disapprovingly. "I'll tell you if you do something I don't like, but the chance of that happening when you're trying to spend time with me is very, very slim."

"Okay," he said timidly, and I grinned.

"You're adorable."

"Not as cute as you," he retorted.

"Stop being cheesy."

"You know you love it," he mocked, and I grinned.

"Shut up. I'll pick you up around six?"

"Sure. Where do you wanna go?"

"I'm indecisive. I don't care as long as it isn't too fancy."

"I hate fancy shit too," he laughed. "How about that pizza place again? I can buy movie tickets and popcorn and you can buy dinner?"

I grinned. "That's... That's exactly what we did last time, when we were friends," I giggled, and heard him laugh too.

"That's the point, babe."

"Then that sounds perfect. I'll see you at six. Don't pick a stupid movie."

***

"That was fucking terrifying," Gerard said, clutching my hand tightly and looking out of one of the windows of the lobby of the theatre.

"It wasn't even scary," I scoffed, and then looked at Gerard, realising that he wasn't joking. "Oh my god, babe, you're..."

"What?" he said, pressing his face into my neck. I walked us towards the doors of the lobby, and he inched back.

"Babe, we watched Venom. It's a super-hero comedy," I said, and he drew back, scoffing at me.

"What? That was fucking scary!"

"How were you less scared of the Shining?!" I insisted and started walking towards the door again, but he didn't budge.

"Because the Shining could never actually happen in real life," he insisted. "But that kind of illegal lab testing shit happens in real life. That kind of thing is constantly happening. There are people who actually torture animals and people out there. It's disgusting."

"Yeah, I know, but it's more disturbing than scary, don't you think?"

"That's what makes it scary!"

"Okay, well, since it's like twelve at night, let's go back to my place or yours, and we can cuddle okay? Would that make you feel better?"

He nodded. "I'm glad you drove, Frankie."

"Me too, baby," I chuckled, and squeezed his hand. We finally walked out of the bloody theatre.

***

"Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm just gonna use the bathroom, Gee," I said, and kissed his forehead as he clung to me. "Just stay here in bed, I'll be right back, alright?"

He nodded. "I'm acting so childish. It's not like anyone's gonna break in and kidnap me or anything..." he rolled his eyes at himself, and I chuckled.

"See? You're right, Gee. I'll only be a couple minutes," I said and walked into the bathroom to take a piss. When I was back out, I saw him buried under the covers, and I smiled.

"Aww, Gee," I said and slipped into his bed with him.

"Don't baby me, Frankie. That's kinda gross."

"Don't kink-shame DDLB people," I said, and he rolled his eyes.

"Are you into that?"

"Nah. It's not my thing at all. I like adults, and being an adult," I laughed and pulled him closer to me. "Are you?"

"Nope. I personally think it's gross, but as long as it's between two consenting adults, I don't really see a problem with it, I guess."

I nodded. "Same," then, "C'mere, I wanna kiss you."

He smiled and shifted towards me, taking my face in his hand and pulling my lips to his softly. I smiled too and we both pulled apart slowly.

"I'm tired, Gee," I said, and he nodded.

"Me too," and rested his face in the crook of my neck. "You're not gonna let go of me, right?"

"You're still scared?"

He nodded, a look of shame crossing his face.

"That's okay, Gee. Don't feel bad," I laughed, and he nodded again. "I'm sorry for making you feel bad about it. And of course, I'll hold you all night, darling."

"Thanks, babe, I felt him smile against my neck, and I pulled him closer, tangling our legs together.

"Mhm," I hummed, kissing his forehead. "Goodnight, baby."

"Night," he said sleepily and nuzzled into my chest.

***

I woke up to Gerard placing gentle kisses on my neck again, and giggled when it tickled.

"Good morning, darling," he cooed, and I smiled, when he stopped.

"Morning," I mumbled. "If I get to wake up to you doing this every morning, I'll be the happiest man alive."

"I love waking you up like this," he said and I beamed, rubbing my eyes. "You look so beautiful."

I blushed and smiled to myself, closing my eyes and hiding my face.

He grinned. "I'm going to make breakfast, Frankie. Wanna sleep more or accompany me in the kitchen?"

"Uh, no you're not. It's my turn, bitch," I said and he giggled.

"Fine. I'm not gonna make you beg this time, I'll save that for another time," he said, an evil grin spreading across his lips as he watched my face turn tomato-red.

I jumped out of bed, pulling him with me, ignoring what he'd just said. We made our way sleepily to the kitchen and I grinned.

"Your turn to sit on the counter," I said and watched him do so. "You know," I murmured and walked over to where he was. He crossed his legs. "I've been waiting to do this forever."

"Do what—mph!"

I pressed my lips to his, leaning against the counter and gripped his hips, pulling him closer to me. His hands settled around my neck, and I smiled. "Every time you sat on my counter, I thought about doing that, you know?"

"You did?"

"Mhm... you just looked so perfectly adorable."

He blushed and smiled, kissing me again. "That's so cute," he said as his stomach growled, and he looked at me guiltily.

"That's my cue to make you something," I said grinning and I opened his fridge. "Do omelettes sound good to you?"

*** three months later***

"Oh my god, not again!" Bob teased and shielded his eyes from our necks as Gerard and I walked into Ray's garage. We were only waiting on Mikey now.

Gerard grinned and blushed, pulling me to his side and kissing my cheek. This was our fifth or sixth practice, and we had a collection of cover songs that we were working on now, just figuring out our sound. We'd been together as a 'band' for all of summer, and now that summer was coming to an end, we decided that we'd schedule band practice and have it regularly, every Saturday for a few hours so we lasted through the winter.

"I just can't help it, Bob," Gerard whined jokingly. "Frankie's irresistible. I wouldn't even be mad if you admitted that you liked him too."

Bob rolled his eyes. "Gerard, I'm straight. And I have a girlfriend, and she's arguably more irresistible to me than Frank is."

He rolled his eyes. "Then you're just as bad as us!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yeah, you are! Did you hear what you just said?"

"Okay, but at least I don't advertise the fact that I have sex with her."

"We haven't uh..." Gerard trailed off and Bob gaped at him.

I walked away from the two of them and plugged in my guitar to the amp next to Ray, and rolled my eyes at him. He laughed.

"They're really going at it aren't they," he said, and I laughed. "Yeah. Gerard thinks that I'm like, the most attractive man on earth. I really don't know why," I said, rubbing the marks on my neck.

Ray grinned at me. "I get it. I think that about Mikey, even though he insists that—"

"That you're prettier," I finished for him. "Yeah. God, I can't keep track of the number of times that he's ranted to me about how fucking gorgeous you are."

Ray's cheeks turned pink, and his eyes glistened. "Really?"

"Mhm," I smiled at him. "I'm so happy for you, man. I can tell how happy Mikey makes you, and I cannot express how happy I am that you've found someone that makes you feel that way."

"Right back at you, man," he said smiling, then lowered his voice. "Gerard's checking out your arse, like hardcore right now." He paused. "And I'm really surprised you two haven't, like..."

"Fucked?"

"Yeah..."

I turned around and caught Gerard's eyes. He looked away, his cheeks going deep red, and continued talking to Bob. Their subject seemed to have changed to talking about the songs that we were covering.

"I guess I'm just still scared of being used, even though I know he wouldn't. It's been like three months-ish."

"Fair," Ray said and shrugged.

I heard a car door slam and his eyes lit up. Mikey walked up the driveway, his awkward knees turned in slightly and grinned when he saw us.

"Sorry I'm a bit late," he said. "I got us all coffee, and it took a little too long, and there was an accident on the way."

Gerard looked at his brother in awe. "You're a godsend, Mikes."

Mikey handed out the iced coffees. "This is how you guys like them, right?"

We all nodded. "Thank you so much," I said, taking a long drag of it. I turned on the amp and started tuning. Then Ray did, then Mikey. Gerard went around to the back of the garage to do vocal warm-ups while we all tuned. After the three of us tuned, Bob messed around with the tightness of his drums and adjusted little things, and Gerard appeared in a few minutes.

"Ready guys?"

***

"Oh shit, it's six o'clock already," Bob said, looking at his watch. "I've gotta go. I have a date at seven thirty."

Gerard grinned. "Oooh, have fun, Robert."

Bob rolled his eyes and we all laughed.

"You should bring her around some time, man. We'd all love to meet her," Ray said, and turned off his amp. I turned mine off too, and Mikey did the same. Gerard switched off his mic, and we all started packing up.

Bob's cheeks went red. "I'd love to. How 'bout I'll bring her around next week? She's been dying to meet you all and hear us play anyways."

Gerard grinned. "Yes! I love her so much, she's so sweet, I can't wait for you guys to meet her!"

"Gee, you seem more excited about this than Bob," I chuckled, clicking my guitar case shut around my treasured white Gibson SG.

"Okay," Ray said and laughed. "But does Bob ever emote?"

"Hey!" he said, his tone raising, but the intent as dead as he was on the inside. "I do around my girlfriend."

"Good. That's a good start," I grinned at him, and he gave me one of his rare smiles.

"Alright," he said, standing up and sticking his drumsticks in his pocket and throwing his empty cup inside the trash can next to the kit. "I should be off. I'll catch you guys later."

We all said bye, and then I looked at Gerard. "We should probably get going too."

Mikey put away his bass and sidled up to Ray, placing a kiss on his cheek and sighing contently as Ray's arm slipped around his waist protectively, then kissing him properly on the lips.

"Yeah, we should," he winked at Ray and Mikey. "We'll leave you two to it."

Ray rolled his eyes and Mikey chuckled, used to his regular teasing by now. "We'll see you guys around," Ray said and I picked up my guitar case in one hand, taking Gerard's hand in my other.

"Yup! See you guys!"

"Wanna get some dinner on the way home?" Gerard asked as he drove back to our flat.

"Actually, that'd be great. I'm really hungry."

"How does Mexican sound?"

"Like heaven."

***

"Yours or mine tonight?" I asked as Gerard and I got onto the elevator.

"Um, how about mine?" he said, wrapping his arms around me from behind as I pressed the button for his level. I leant back into him, resting my head on his shoulder and felt his lips on my neck as I did so. Shivering, I tried to turn around to kiss him normally, but his arms kept me in place. I held back a moan as his tongue and teeth joined into his motions and he created new hickeys around the ones that were already there from a couple of days ago when we'd last done something like this.

But I had a feeling that tonight was going to be different. And even if it didn't go as far as I wanted it to, I would be content. I knew that for a fact. But right now, I sensed that Gerard had more on his mind than just making out and cuddling.

The elevator reached the floor of his apartment and Gerard immediately pushed me out of the metal box and up against his door.

My face flushed again, and we got into Gerard's flat in safety. Gerard closed and locked the door behind him, I wrapped my arms around his waist, placing kisses on his shoulder. I slowly reached under his shirt and began pulling it off and he turned around quickly, turning to face me. I could see the lust in his eyes, the hungriness that I longed to see.

"What're you doing, baby?" he asked.

"Taking your shirt off, Gee," I said in the most innocent way possible, but pressed Gerard into the door anyways. "Complaining?"

"Oh of course not," he blushed, but pushed himself off the door anyways and scooped me up in his arms. "I've just decided something," he said and leaned down to kiss me on the neck. I manoeuvred so that I was straddling Gerard and my arms were wrapped around his neck again.

Gerard pushed me against the door, his hips bucking up to meet my crotch, which made me gasp in surprise. "A-and what's th-that?"

"That I'm going to fuck you—" he bit at my lip, and then my neck, and then my collarbone. "Until you're screaming and you just can't take it anymore." He kissed and licked at the spots he'd just bruised. "But you're gonna have to beg for it," he murmured, and I moaned, unable to do anything while his lips were still attached to my throat.

My head rolled back, exposing more neck as I moaned softly, my legs involuntarily tightening around Gerard's waist. He kissed and sucked down my neck again, and made his way back up to my lips slowly, savouring almost every bit of skin in the narrow line that he'd chosen. I tangled my hands through his hair and pulled his face up to mine. His lips collided with mine as I pulled him closer.

Gerard kissed me again and moved away from the wall, his hands supporting my arse and he took the opportunity to squeeze it. I gasped, biting at Gerard's lip in response, getting the same reaction from him.

Gerard headed towards his bedroom and when we got there, he shut the door with his foot and laid me down on the bed more gently than ever, gazing at me with the hungriest eyes that I'd ever seen, even though they were still mingled with tenderness and care. His lips trailed down my neck again, this time stopping on the way down a few times to bite and suck, making me gasp and moan all over again. I swear he was getting turned on by just the noises I was making, which only made my little problem worse. His hands crawled under my shirt again and suddenly, we were taking them off, throwing them on the floor carelessly.

Gerard went back to work on leaving hickeys down my neck, then my chest and stomach. His lips and teeth just inched further and further down, coming close to my boxers' elastic where he licked and kissed, but didn't get down any further. I could feel myself getting harder and harder and I ran my hands through Gerard's hair and pulled tightly as I felt his tongue dip below the elastic.

"God, fuck, Gerard!" I hissed and tightened my grip on Gerard's hair earning a moan from him as well.

I felt the kisses being placed farther and farther up my chest and neck again, and I groaned. Gerard kissed me sweetly, his tender hand cupping my cheek, and I almost believed that he was trying to calm me down. The dominating side to him seemingly gone, and I whined at this before I felt a hand trailing slowly downward, and this time fingers pushed back the elastic of my boxers—at least the part that was showing above my jeans—and massaged the skin underneath.

My breath was uneven as I frantically searched for something better than hair to grasp at. I settled for Gerard's back and dug my fingernails into him as I felt his hips grind down on mine.

Gerard's fingers kept at the slow and rhythmic stroking around my v-line, his fingers digging just a bit deeper and closer to my aforementioned 'little problem' every time, making me gasp softly and moan when his fingers got too close. Gerard sucked and kissed at my neck all the while—deepening the colour of some of the hickeys he'd left before.

"F-fuck, Gerard, just take my damn jeans off!" I cried out breathily, not being able to take it anymore, and Gerard grinned, his hands working to undo my pants quickly. He rolled off of me and let me take the skinny jeans off and worked on his own. When he was done, he rolled back onto me and let his hand wander under the elastic of my boxers while he kissed my chest sloppily.

Soon, he slipped off my boxers and wrapped his hand tightly around my dick. I moaned far too loudly and dug my nails farther into Gerard's back. He moaned at this too, and I pushed my hips forward onto his. Gerard's fingers slipped up and down my length a few times, getting me impossibly harder.

Then, suddenly, he grinned and removed his hand, making me whine at the lack of contact.

He moved off of me for a moment to get a condom and a bottle of lube from the inside of the bedside table and raised an eyebrow at me. I nodded in response, but unsurely, knowing my eyes were giving away my apprehension, and even a little of my fright. I'd never bottomed before, and we both knew that.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to, baby," he said reassuringly and stroked my thighs comfortingly. However, this only made me shudder in pleasure, so he stopped.

I nodded and sat up, wrapping my legs around Gerard's waist, leaning in close to Gerard's ear and smiling. "I'm all yours, babe. Do what you want with me."

Gerard shuddered at this which made me pull him closer, pressing gentle kisses down his neck. His hands came down to rest on my hips and began to rub circles in them again and at this, I buried my face in Gerard's shoulder, bucking my hips into Gerard's. He moaned at this and pushed me onto my back aggressively.

"You know," he said, kissing gently up my neck. "You have fucking gorgeous legs."

"O-oh?!" I responded, stuttering as I felt Gerard's fingers sliding up and down them, fingers trailing gingerly on the insides.

"Mhm. They're beautiful," he grinned. "But they'd look even better spread out for me, baby."

He gripped my thighs, fingers tight and sweetly demanding. My legs practically fell open at this, even though Gerard would have done it for me anyways.

"Good boy," he purred into my ear and let his fingers trail far too lightly up the inside of one of my thighs. I shivered at Gerard's touch and my breath was frantic, hurried.

"Fuck, Gerard, d-do something, p-please!" his legs came to wrap around Gerard's waist again, this time loosely hanging open.

"You want me to?"

I nodded, gripping his back, my eyes still squeezed shut.

"Then beg for it, Frankie," he growled into my ear.

"Fuck!" I moaned as his hot breath ghosted my neck. "Oh my god, Gerard, please, just d-do something, anything! Fuck me, please!"

One of his hands lay lightly on my hips and the other one was tracing patterns far to gently on the inside of my thighs.

"God, fuck," I moaned. "Gee, please."

"I'll have to prep you first, baby," Gerard grinned. "But of course, I will. I'm gonna make you feel so good, Frankie."

I nodded hurriedly at this, my fingernails creating half-moon shapes in Gerard's back in desperation. He spread lube onto three of his fingers and looked at me.

"Ready? One at a time of course."

I nodded, so Gerard let one finger slip in. I could feel my face twist at the pain and at the extremely weird, new feeling. When I was used to one finger, I nodded at Gerard, and he slipped another in, slowly scissoring the two, and then pushing in as far as he could.

I moaned loudly, my nails digging even further, and I could feel sweat coating them. "Th-that's the spot, babe," I gasped, my eyes squeezed shut in both pain and pleasure.

Gerard let me get used to two fingers, and then he apprehensively slipped a third in. I was relieved to find that it wasn't as difficult and painful as I thought it would be. He kept moving them, occasionally brushing my prostate making me moan shallowly. When my muscles relaxed around Gerard's fingers, he slipped them out, wiping the lube off on a tissue and throwing it out of the way, unimportant right now.

"Gerard?" my voice came out smaller and higher pitched than I thought it would be, and Gerard's eyes were taken over by a wave of protectiveness and care.

"Yes, darling?"

I crawled onto Gerard's lap again, my swollen cock brushing against Gerard's belly, and my arse brushing Gerard's dick, these two things only making Gerard perpetually harder, and me smirk. He let out a disappointed sigh as I slipped a little bit off of him, but then he looked up, realising my reason for abandoning him.

I looked Gerard dead in the eyes and tore the condom packet open with my teeth, throwing the packaging away where the tissue lay off of the bed, uncared for at the moment. Gerard's breath caught in his throat, and he tipped his head back as my fingers rolled the condom onto him. I felt a surge of pride at the state I had brought him into. I slowly dragged my fingers down Gerard's dick, making sure the condom was on right, but also to tease him. He let out a loud moan, clutching the bed sheets, and I knew I had succeeded.

He looked back up at me then, and I struggled to keep the innocence up in my eyes.

"Fuck me, Gerard," I pleaded, my hand tightening around him.

Gerard grinned and crawled towards me again, lowering me onto my back. He massaged the insides of my thighs as he spread them open with his hands. My eyes closed and I threw my head back, my lips slightly parted as his fingers got... well, not fucking close enough to me.

"Ready, darling?"

I nodded quickly, still gasping at the feeling of Gerard's hands against my thighs.

"P-please!"

"Anything for you, baby," Gerard grinned and aligned himself with me, and then pushed in slowly. He let himself slowly get all the way in, also letting me get comfortable with the feeling of something inside of me, which I greatly appreciated. He leant down and kissed my neck gently, which distracted from a little bit of the burning and pain, but not very much.

"H-hold my hand?" I whimpered, the burning in my arse becoming a little too much. I knew how good it must have felt for Gerard, I knew that being inside someone, especially someone as tight as me was good, and he seemed to be holding back moans. Gerard immediately threaded our fingers together, and I gripped his hand. When I was okay with this feeling, I nodded. "Move."

Gerard began slowly, and I winced, but when he sped up, he hit my prostate, and I nearly cried out in pleasure. All of the pain slowly melted away with each new thrust into it, and I heard Gerard begin to let out his moans too.

"F-faster, babe! R-right there!" I gasped, and Gerard complied, moving his hips faster. My hips bucked to match each of Gerard's thrusts, and soon enough, I could feel my face carrying a fraction of my desperation, and in a few thrusts, I came, the white liquid covering our chests. Gerard came a few thrusts afterwards, collapsing onto me afterwards.

He kissed at my collarbone, letting his kisses trail upwards and then placed a sweet, chaste kiss on my lips as he pulled out.

"Mm," I looked up into Gerard's eyes. "Goddamn. That was really fucking good, Gee."

Gerard nodded into my chest, and I grinned. "Damn. That's my boyfriend." I felt Gerard's blush growing.

"Th-that was fucking amazing, Frankie," he said, his eyes glistening, his smile as beautiful as ever. He pulled my lips towards his again, and I smiled softly.

"You're so hot when you beg for me," he said smirking, his voice deep and sexy. My cheeks turned bright red, and I bit my lip.

"You're hot when you're possessive," I whispered back, and then noticed all of the goddamn sweat and come we had all over us.

"Jesus, we need to shower," I mumbled and let my fingers trail lightly down Gerard's back. "But I also wanna sleep."

Gerard nodded, taking the condom off. "We'll shower after we sleep. I'll set a timer for half an hour. I wanna sleep too, but we're currently really nasty."

I nodded. "There's my good old decisive Gee," I grinned, and he smiled back at me, kissing me again, then let his head rest on my chest.

We stayed in this position for the next thirty minutes, and when the alarm rang, I had to push Gerard off of my body in order to turn it off. I wrapped his arms around his shoulders and shook him lightly.

"Baby, wake up. It's like two am. We need to shower."

"I don't wanna get up, Frankieeee," Gerard whined and draped the crook of his elbow over his eyes.

I thought for a moment. "If you get up and shower with me, I'll give you a surprise."

Gerard laughed. "I'm not a child, Frank."

"Fine. It's more like I'll show you something, but come on. I promise you'll like it."

Gerard huffed, but eventually smiled. "Okay, I'm coming, darling."

I was desperate to shower, and was glad when he followed me, smirking at the plan formulating in my head.

I turned on the water and set two towels on the counter where we could reach them getting out of the shower. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist, and hummed in content, leaning back into them. When the water was sufficiently heated up, I pulled Gerard in. We helped each other wash our tangled hair and bodies, and when we were finished, which took around five minutes, Gerard reached over me to turn the water off. I caught Gerard's wrist, pulling him close enough to whisper in his ear.

"Don't forget about your little surprise, baby," I gripped his wrist harder and pushed his hand against the wall. I heard his breath catch in his throat, and smirked at this, pushing my hips into his, earning another gasp from his beautiful little throat.

"W-what's that, Frankie?" his eyes were innocent and adorable, and I nearly gushed, but I didn't break my persona or eye contact as I fell to my knees.

*** two months later ***

"Mm, good morning, Gee," I mumbled and smiled as I felt his soft kisses on my neck.

"Good morning, darling," he said. "Happy five months."

My eyes widened and I sat up, suddenly awake. "Oh my god, yeah!"

He ran a hand up my bare thigh and memories from the night before flooded my head. It's not like it was the first time we'd had sex, but I still blushed as he pulled me onto his lap and kissed me sweetly, sucking on my lips a little bit.

"You look so fucking sexy with all of those marks on your body, babe," he said, and I broke away, burying my head in his neck, humming.

"Gee, stop you're gonna..." I trailed off, not wanting to complete my sentence.

"I'm gonna what, baby?" he said huskily, and I buried my face deeper in his neck as his hand squeezed my thigh again, and then made its way up to my arse, resting there lightly.

"We need to shower, babe, we didn't last night," I said finally looking up at him, and he smiled. "Besides, I'm too sore to do anything else right now."

"Sure, baby," and scooped me up, setting me down in the bathroom where he proceeded to turn the shower on. He turned back to me and pulled me towards him, his hands settling on my hips and giving me a chaste kiss. I melted at his respectfulness of my boundaries. I felt like the luckiest man alive when i was in his arms, and I smiled, indicating this as I kissed back.

"I actually wanted to ask you something, Frankie," he said, smiling down at me.

"What's that?" I asked and wrapped my arms around his shoulders innocently. I was still shocked that Gee and I were able to be comfortable enough around each other to not get turned on every time we were naked.

"Would you like to move into my flat with me? I mean we're constantly at each other's apartments already. I feel like I sleep in my own bed half the time and in yours the other half. We can split the rent, so that's also a plus."

"Aw, babe, I was just about to ask you the same thing," I said, and he grinned.

"So... who's flat are we going to live in?"

"Do you feel particularly attached to yours, or do you wanna move into mine because of like Lindsey memories?"

He waved that off, and checked the temperature of the shower, pulling me in with him.

"That doesn't bother me anymore. She and I were roommates. We are lovers. What we have is more real than what Lindsey and I ever had, so it really doesn't bother me."

"Okay, then I'd love to move in with you," I smiled and he grinned down at me, pulling me closer to himself. "Plus," I added guiltily. "I still have stuff packed in boxes because I was too damn lazy to unpack it."

He chuckled. "I'll bet you still have things in that storage unit too, huh?"

I nodded, feeling my face heat up. "I'm just really lazy."

"Well, I think you'll have to put that storage unit to use again," he smiled, and I leant up and kissed him softly.

"I think I will."

He kissed back, and I grinned when I felt his gentle hands stroke my hips softly. I felt a tugging in my chest, my head spinning, and I knew it was time to tell him. I wasn't even nervous as I gazed into the sparkly eyes I'd fallen for so many months ago during that bittersweet summer evening at the Misfits concert.

"I love you, Gee," I said when he pulled away, and he grinned.

"I love you too, Frankie," he replied, and pulled me closer, kissing me sweetly, treating me like a glass vase again, his hands on my hips gentle and protective, almost exactly like our first kiss. But this was different. This was more innocent, this was sweeter, more understanding.

This was love.


	7. part seven - good coffee

"Damn, I never realised how much stuff you don't have," Gee said, and we looked around at the empty flat. All of my things were in boxes again, and I grinned slightly.

"I don't need much to get by. Plus, we practically live at each other's' flats anyways, so if I ever did need anything, I'd probably ask you."

He nodded, looking around as well, and then settling back on me. "Well, you ready?"

"Yep," I grinned, and he pulled me into his chest, kissing the top of my head.

"I don't know why I'm so excited, this isn't gonna be different than what it's usually going to be like."

I shrugged, giggling and leaning up to kiss his lips. "Yeah, but instead of moving back and forth, we'll just be at your flat. Besides, it's on paper now and we're both paying rent for it and—"

"Hey, wait, wait, wait, it's not my flat anymore," he said, pulling me into his lips again. "It's our flat now."

I felt the blush crawling over my cheeks and almost squealed. I didn't, but, almost. "Thanks so much, Gee."

He shook his head and giggled. "Why the fuck are you thanking me, again, Frankie?"

"For letting me move into your flat, dumbass."

"Once again, it's ours," he kissed my nose. "And I should be the one thanking you, baby. You're lowering my rent, but I don't care about that. The better part is that I get to officially live with my beautiful boyfriend."

I laughed at this, burying my face in his chest. "Your boyfriend seems great."

"He's as close to perfect as I've ever seen. Nothing compares. No one could even get close," he grins and gently pulls my face out of his neck, his hand gently cupping the opposing side of my face, his thumb gently rubbing it. I couldn't hold my smile back if I tried.

"And you know what the best part is?" he continues, and I laugh.

"I thought you'd already told me the best part."

He hums negatively. "The best part is that he's all mine."

My face burns as I melt under his touch just like always, and smile as he kisses me tenderly, his lips moving beautifully with mine.

"God, I love you," I mumble, and he smiles.

"I love you too, Frankie. I love you so much," he pulls away from me slightly, one of his arms wrapping around my waist. "We should start moving these boxes to where they need to be."

"Yeah. The ones with the X's go to my car, and the rest are to your apartment."

"Okay. There are more with X's, so let's start with those, I guess," he smiles, and we pick up heavy boxes, going to the elevator.

***

"That was the last band practice I have before I have to go back to work on Monday," Ray said, grimacing as he turned off the amps with the extension cord.

"Sorry man," I said, frowning. "I still have three days." I adjusted my fingerless gloves and unplugged from the amp.

"Nice," Bob says. "I have a week!"

"That's because you have a regular job, Robby," Gerard teases.

"Yeah. I feel like I'm the only one with stability," he frowns. "But what does that mean when you work as a fucking psych teacher for high school seniors?"

"Hey! Don't put yourself down. Psychology is pretty sick," I chided. "I was gonna be a psych major in college for a bit just because my psych teacher was the best teacher I'd ever had. She taught me so much."

"But then you did what?"

"Music production."

"Exactly."

"Psych is really cool man. Admit it," I prodded, and he shrugged.

"I mean, I think so," he said, one of his rare smiles gracing his lips.

We were all packed up by now, and Mikey was leaning against an amp, his head resting on Ray's shoulder. Mikey had moved in with Ray a couple months ago, so he didn't even leave after band practice now. 

"Ready to move the rest of the things?" Gerard grinned at me, and I nodded, picking up my case and waving goodbye to Ray and Mikey.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

I felt Gerard's arm snake possessively around me and I leant into his touch as we walked down the driveway. I put the case in my car and slid into the driver's seat. Before we pulled out of the garage, he leant down and kissed me desperately and I knew exactly what we were doing when we got home.

***

"Frankie, we're disgusting," Gerard smiled from under me after I collapsed on his chest, pulling out of him. I took off the condom and threw it away. I laid back down next to him and kissed sweetly up his chest again, resting my head in the crook of his neck.

"Yeah, we need a shower," I said, groaning and getting up. He winced in pain as he sat up, and I bit my lip, looking away.

"And to change the sheets too, darling," he said, taking my hand as I led him to our bathroom.

"Mm, we can do that after we shower."

I turned the water on and waited for it to warm up, feeling Gerard's eyes on me the whole time. I felt his arms wrap around my waist. I paused, knowing what I'd done.

"I hurt you, didn't I, Gee?"

"W-what?"

"That hurt you too much for too long. I didn't prep you well enough. That was really selfish of me. I hurt you, didn't I, baby?"

He rested his head on my shoulder. "I don't care. It was good in the end."

I shook my head. "Not good enough."

"Darling, everything you do is more than good enough for me," he said gently, and I shook my head again.

"No. Don't settle. Please tell me when I'm hurting you, baby, okay?" I said, checking the temperature of the shower and turning around.

He smiled. "I will, I promise."

I leant up, kissing him. "Good. Now get in so I can make it up to you."

"Oh, Frankie, you don't need to—"

"But I want to."

"Frankie, please don't feel like you need to make anything up to me, baby. It's really alright."

"I want to."

"You—"

"I want you. I want you to fuck my mouth, Gee," I growled, and he let out a soft moan at my tone of voice. I pressed him against the wall. "Take the pain out on me. Make me feel like you did. Make me feel like I deserve it."

"I do love it when your voice is hoarse because of me," he said when I let go of him, pondering it, mocking me.

"Then use me like a toy, Gee."

He squeezed his eyes closed, getting turned on already, but then looked down at me, and his face changed, and I could see the dominant side of him come out.

"You want me to punish you, Frankie?"

I felt a blush creep up on my cheeks and I nodded.

"I can't hear you," he said, his tone antagonising. He turned us around, pushing me into the wall of the shower and biting at my neck harshly.

"Gerard!" I cried softly and he made eye contact with me, raising an eyebrow. "Yes. Please," I said as I felt him grip my thighs.

"The safe-word is the same as always," he murmured caringly into my ear, and I nodded, staring at him, my eyes mimicking a look of guilt for what I'd done.

"You've been bad, Frankie," he whispered darkly this time, and I nodded. "You're right. I'm going to have to punish you," he smirked at me and then gripped my shoulder. "On your knees."

I complied immediately, and opened my mouth, taking him whole in my mouth. He thrust into my mouth, groaning and leaning into the wall to support himself. I ran my hands up his thighs as he moved at a steady pace, occasionally hitting the back of my throat, making me gag. I worked my tongue around him too and rubbed his thighs when they began to tremble.

His thrusts got faster and harder, his moans deeper and more desperate, and I could tell he was getting close. I kept sucking, my tongue swirling around him, and I hummed, getting him closer, closer. Tears pooled in my eyes and soon dripped down my face as he hit the back of my throat one last time, coming. I swallowed all of it, working him through his orgasm.

"F-fuck, Frankie, get off your knees," he said tenderly, helping me up anyways. He kissed me roughly, and I groaned.

"Did I make you feel good, Gee?" I asked, my voice rough, and he bit his lip.

"So good, baby," he said, kissing me as chastely as he could. He wiped away my tears and kissed my cheeks, and I could see guilt in his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey," I whined softly. "I hope you don't feel bad."

"I made you cry."

"You gave me what I asked for. And it made you feel good, so I don't see a problem."

He nodded, smiling a bit. "I love you, Frankie."

"I love you too, darling," I said, kissing him softly.

We did clean up, eventually. And when we were in bed again, the innocence and tenderness were back, and Gerard's thumb was stroking my cheek like we'd only ever done innocent things.

"Frankie, I hope you know you didn't have to do that, right? You didn't do it out of genuine guilt, right?"

I shook my head, pressing a kiss to his lips. "No, I just wanted to make you feel good, babe. Just like I said."

"Well, you know you succeeded there, honey," he mumbled, kissing my forehead, then my nose.

"I'm really glad," I said, my throat aching pleasantly.

He closed his eyes and grinned frustratedly. "Oh my god, your voice. It's so..."

"So what?"

"It's so sexy, and if I wasn't exhausted from what you just fucking did to me, I'd fuck you right here and now."

"I'm sleepy too. And I'm not trying to start anything because we both have work tomorrow," I said, pressing my lips to his.

He groaned at the reminder and pulled me into his chest, wrapping the winter blankets around us. "Goodnight, my love."

"Goodnight, baby."

***

I smiled as I felt Gerard's soft kisses on my neck, and pulled him closer to me sleepily. "Morning, Gee."

"Moring," he smiled back, and kissed my neck again softly, and right then, I knew that I wanted to feel this for the rest of my life. I wanted to wake up to this every morning, I wanted to have him in my arms, to have him as my own for the rest of my life, and I wanted to be his for just as long.

His fingers were light as they ran themselves through my hair and brushed it out of my eyes. I looked up at him, grinning.

"You're so beautiful."

I watched his face turn red and grinned. I wanted to make him turn red for the rest of my life. I knew that I would never stop wanting to see him smile and that he'd never fail to make me smile. I knew that I needed him there with me as we aged, I knew that I needed him there with me forever, but I wouldn't tell him just yet. It was too early. I'd literally just moved in with him.

"You're far more beautiful than I am, darling."

"False," I said immediately.

"True and you know it—mph," I shut him up with a kiss before he could say anything else.

"False. Shut up." He went to say something else, but I kissed him again. "Will you stop?"

"Stop what, darling?"

"Stop saying that. You know for a fact that you're the prettier one," I grinned.

"Fight me."

"Okay fine. Parking lot at three."

"Am or pm?"

"Am."

"You know we're just going to end up fucking again, right?"

I turned bright red. "I'll see to it that we do."

He grinned ruffling my hair. "You're adorable. And don't say anything. You know it's true."

I shrugged. "Fine," and grinned, losing myself in the way he stared at me once again.

"I love you, Gee," I said softly, and saw him soften from his jokey state and bite his lip.

"I love you too, Frankie," he said, pulling me in for another long kiss.

When I got to the studio that day, I looked at my schedule. Since the band I'd just worked with had just released their album, I had a new one coming in today. I grinned when I saw Brendon and Ryan's names on the paper among a few others.

This was gonna be fun. They came in a bit early, which I appreciated and helped me finish setting up the equipment.

"So, guys, I just realised our producer and sound engineer for this album is gonna be me and Ryan's friend, Frank. He lives in the same apartment as us," he smiled at me, and everyone nodded.

"You guys can tune up if you want and I'll get all the channels set up," I said. Most of the soreness in my throat from last night was gone, but my voice was still raspy as hell. The other guys thought nothing of it, of course, but Brendon and Ryan looked at me, wide-eyed.

"Frank, what happened to you?" Ryan asked, concerned. "You don't have to be here if you're sick, I feel bad now."

"Ryan, isn't it obvious?" Brendon looked at his boyfriend, hooking an arm around his waist. "Frank got face fucked yesterday."

"Oh my god, I thought you were fucking dying! I got worried over the fact that you sucked Gerard's dick!" Ryan exclaimed, and I don't know how the rest of the band didn't hear.

"Not so loud, dude," I said, my face turning bright red.

"Awe, you shouldn't be embarrassed, Frank," Brendon mocked and I rolled my eyes.

"Get over it, guys. Brendon warm up your voice so you don't kill your vocal cords and I'll get the channels set up like I said I would," I said, my face still bright red.

"Whatever you say, Mr Iero," Brendon said.

"Why'd you use my—"

"Because it won't be Iero for much longer," he said, winking.

My eyes went wide, and I couldn't help the blush that was slowly overtaking my being. "We've been dating for like five months, that's—"

"I have to warm up my voice, darling. I'll see you in a bit," Brendon said, walking into another room. Ryan just giggled and continued tuning his guitar.

***

"You're so cute when you draw," I said softly as I walked into our apartment, spotting Gee who was still at work at the kitchen table. Ever since I started working with Brendon and his band, Gerard had gotten a contract to make a series called The Umbrella Academy and even though it had only been a few weeks, he still had a whole plot and almost all of his characters drawn out for the first book.

Gerard hummed and smiled, his tongue sticking out a little bit as he continued. "I'm working on this gorilla man with toxic masculinity," he said, his tone distant.

I snorted. "Show me when you're done, I won't distract you," I said smiling softly when he nodded, bending over his work on our dinner table.

I sighed, looking at the clock. It was around six thirty. I'd stopped working at four as always, saved everything and called it a day. Even though Brendon and his band were paying me by the day, I really wanted to get back in the studio and finish mastering the track they had just recorded with me a few days prior. I told them it would be finished by the end of tomorrow, but there was just so much I needed to do.

It was one of the singles for their new album. We'd already completely finished the first one, but now we needed to finish this one and send it to Atlantic Records by the end of the day tomorrow. In theory, I was fine. I was actually quite confident that I'd be okay, but the more I thought about it, the more I doubted myself. I knew I was already overworked. That had been established.

I was working with a band, mastering their whole album in a short amount of time working seven am to four pm, and I still practised with Gerard, Ray, Mikey, and Bob on the weekends. I'd also picked up a part-time job at the café; I worked weekdays there for two-hour shifts after I got out of the studio.

It seemed like too much to have picked that job up, but in actuality, I loved it. I loved what I was doing with Brendon and Ryan's band too, it didn't fail to make me happy working with them and their music, but working at the café was purely by choice and not of the need for money. Gerard came in sometimes and drew, and I had a sneaking suspicion that a character he'd finished the last time he was in the café was based on me. He told me the character's name was Klaus.

But the café; it was an easy job, gave me a fair amount of dollars an hour above the minimum wage, and gave me time to relax and unwind before I came home. It also meant that I got a major discount on their goods, so I would use that to get me and Gerard coffee on the way back home when he didn't stop by.

But that time I took to unwind making drinks in the café didn't mean I wasn't overworked.

I decided taking a shower would help.

Usually, the hot water dripping down my body, being able to close my eyes, listening to white noise after a full day of working with music—all of this combined would be relaxing. But today when I got into the shower and stuck my head under the blast of hot water, I started to cry.

I hadn't cried in a while. I didn't have any need to, but once I really started to think about everything, I realised that a lot had changed this year. For one, I was working almost double the time that I had previously, which meant I got to hang out with Ray, Mikey, and Bob a lot less, especially compared to the summer. I could tell that we were slowly drifting apart—the only time I'd see them was when we practised, and of course, sometimes people had to miss a week, or there would be complications of plans, or shortened rehearsals, and it never actually seemed to be stable.

I assured myself that I would work on getting the band together more often.

It also seemed as though work had swept Gerard and me a little farther apart too. Space is never a bad thing, but work shouldn't take the place of having dinner together or going on a date once in a while, no matter how short. However, there was no doubt in me for the love I felt for him. That stood strong. He'd still wake me up almost every morning with kisses, and sometimes I got lucky and woke up before him and got to do the same for him. Our relationship was going well, but work was slowly eating up our time together.

I resolved to talk with him about this and maybe insist on always eating dinner together or going on a date every week or so. I'm sure he'd love that too.

But even as I worked to reassure myself the way that my psych teacher told me to do all those years ago, I felt the good things melting away in the background and the bad things dominating my mind. It was so easy to focus on everything wrong and bad and not think logically.

I didn't even hear myself crying until I felt Gerard's arms turn me to face him and wrap around me, pulling me close to his chest. I hugged him back gratefully, and I felt his fingers tracing the tattoos on my back.

"Th-that feels r-really nice, Gee," I said, my breath hitching violently at the end of my sentence, a choked sob being strangled out of me.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked gently and continued his movements. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

I nodded into his chest. "J-just hold me for a bit?"

"Yeah, yeah, we can talk after we get out, okay, darling?"

"Th-thanks, babe."

"Mhm," he said, pressing a firm kiss to my forehead. "Of course, love."

His thin, nimble fingers kept tracing my tattoos, and I smiled weakly, a thought popping into my head.

"G-Gee?"

"Hm?"

"W-whenever your next break is, c-could you draw a tattoo for me? I-I want your art on my body. It's so beautiful."

"Awe, baby, I would love to do that. You have to tell me what you want though, I don't wanna fuck up."

I nodded.

"We can talk about this later though, let me wash your hair. I know that helps calm you down."

I nodded. "You're the best."

"I try," he smiled softly and reached for the shampoo.

***

"The Misfits are playing in New York again. Wanna see them?" Gerard asked from a sofa chair later that evening.

"Yeah! Oh my god, that's a perfect date for us, Gee."

He grinned, gesturing for me to look at his computer. "It is, isn't it?" He pointed to the screen, his finger hovering over the venue name. It was even the same venue as last time."

"Oh, Gee, it's on our year and two months," I said, kissing his neck softly from behind.

"It is! That's perfect."

"Just like you."

"Hey! I'm not perfect. I hate perfection. It ruins humanity."

"Then I guess the Misfits concert ruins humanity?"

"You know what I mean, baby."

I snickered. "Yeah. You hate one of my favourite bands."

"Frankie! Noooo, stooop," he whined, and closed his computer, placing it to the side and pulling me into his lap. "You're being such a killjoy."

I grinned pressing my lips to his. "I'm sorry, Gee."

He let his face fall into my shoulder. "Don't apologise, you know I hate it when you apologise when you don't need to," he looked at me, brushing some hair out of my eyes. "Stand up for yourself."

"I do!" I insisted, and he stroked my cheek again, biting his lip.

"Not when you need to."

"Tell me how to fix it," I said, gazing into his eyes.

"I dunno, just, don't put yourself down as much, and like... gauge the situation, I guess. If you're at fault for something, apologise, sure, but if we're joking like we were, it's fun to hear your comebacks too," he said shyly, and I smiled nodding.

"I'll do my best."

"Fuck, Frankie," he said, resting his head on my shoulder and pulling me closer.

"What'd I do now?"

"You're just so damn amazing. And you're already improving, look! You didn't apologise for something when there was nothing to apologise for! I'm so proud of you."

"I think you're making a big deal out of this," I smiled, and ran my fingers through his hair.

"Mm, no," he said and looked back up at me grinning. "I could never make a big enough deal out of you."

"Oh my god, you're such a sap," I giggled, and rested my forehead on his.

"Mhm, but you know you love it," he said, kissing me quickly.

"There's not much I don't love about you, darling."

"Ooh, now I wanna know. What don't you like about me?" he grinned.

I drew back, puzzled and thought for a minute. "Get back to me on that."

"I might—"

"Oh! That you put the knives in the dishwasher blades up."

He slapped his forehead. "That's all you could think of?"

"I mean, apart from the things we're working on right now, that's all that comes to mind," I said. "I mean, there are aspects to everyone's personality that get annoying when you're living with them, but they're just little things that are consequentially insignificant."

He shrugged. "But seriously, you know you can talk to me about stuff like that right?"

"What have I been doing for the past year?"

He grinned and kissed me again. "God, I can't get over you, Frankie."

"Good," I said and kissed him again. "Because I can't get over you either, and I don't ever want to."

This time when he kissed me, it lasted longer, and his lips tugged on mine, his arms tightening around me. "Me neither."

***two months later***

"Hey, babe, what's up?" Gerard said when he picked up the phone.

"Hey, darling, I just remembered I have to run a couple errands, so I'll be a little bit late coming home today, alright? I just left the coffee shop."

"Well, yeah, of course, that's fine. Take your time," he said and I fidgeted nervously. I really hope he didn't suspect anything. "I can make dinner tonight."

"Thanks so much! I'll see you soon, love," I said, my smile widening on my face as he fell for it.

"Oh, wait, how long do you think you'll take? I'm going to the coffee shop, just wondering if you wanted something."

"Don't worry about me, I'll get something on the way home."

"Alright, see you later. I love you."

"Love you too. See you in a bit," I grinned when he hung up and pressed on Brendon's contact for what seemed the tenth time that day. 

"Hey, Brendon, what's the address where I'm meeting you again?"

***

"Oh my god, that was so good!" Gerard said for the millionth time that minute as we walked out of the doors of the venue where the Misfits had just played. "That was probably the best concert I've ever been to."

"Darling, you don't need to tell me, I was right beside you the whole time," I smiled up at him and he grinned.

"But it was so amazing! That was better than last year."

"I do agree. I think their energy was better tonight."

He nodded, and I suddenly felt my stomach clench with nervousness as we made it outside the venue.

"H-hey, would you like to get something to drink? Non-alcoholic of course since I'm driving back tonight. I kind of wanted to talk for a bit."

"I'd actually love a good decaf coffee right now," he said, and I internally thanked him for saying yes.

"There's a good coffee shop that's open twenty-four hours down the street," I suggested.

"Ooh! Let's go!" he said, taking my hand in the brisk summer evening air and I led him down to it.

We walked inside the cosy little shop and sat down in one of the small booths, sitting across from each other. A young woman with the most gorgeous dark skin walked towards us—dark as in literally almost black—which perfectly complemented the many golden piercings that adorned her face. She had so many that I didn't even know where to begin counting. Her eyeliner was beautifully winged and matched the shade of her piercings, but it was sparkly. How could someone look so good this late at night? I looked at her, both in awe and jealousy of her pain tolerance. That many piercings had to hurt like a bitch to sleep with.

"I get that face a lot, but not from people like you," she said smirking and placing menus in front of us. "Usually old white people stare at me like that. Not people with tattoo sleeves."

"Sorry, I'm just... Tattoos heal super-fast compared to piercings and they're not sore for very long so I'm just... I'm just—"

"Jealous, twink?" she winked, then her face dropped. "Oh, shit. I just called a random man a twink. I'm so sorry. I'm not trying to be homophobic, I—"

"Hey, don't worry, you're fine," Gerard cut in with a smile, and I looked at him, noticing he was equally in awe. "Being gay ourselves, I assure you we do have a gaydar."

She looked relieved, to say the least, and grinned. "True, but just because I'm a lesbian doesn't mean I get to just call anyone a twink. It's rude all the same," she said, placing a hand on her hip.

I shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, I didn't take any offence."

"Thank goodness," she said, wiping her brow comically and grinning. "I'll be right back to take your orders."

I looked at Gerard and felt the nervous feeling coming back, but I smiled at him, and he smiled back, reaching across the tiny table to take my hands.

"Hey," he murmured. "Are you alright?"

I nodded, but he patted the space on the booth next to him. I gratefully sat down next to him, leaning into his embrace when he pulled me to his side and took deep breaths. I felt his fingers tracing the tattoos on my arms, his gentle touch comforting just as always, but I just couldn't calm down.

"What's up, love?"

"U-um... I'll tell you in a bit. I promise, m'kay?" I smiled up at him and he smiled back.

"Okay," he replied, kissing me briefly.

I felt butterflies awakening in the pit of my stomach.

"I'm gonna look at what coffees they have. I'm feeling adventurous," I said, trying to distract myself, and breaking the tension in the process.

"Ooh," Gerard wiggled his eyebrows. "I love an adventurous man."

I rolled my eyes and smirked.

"What?" he whined softly and giggled. I looked down at my menu and chose a latte appealed to me.

"You're hilarious."

"I'm glad you think so," he grinned.

I closed my menu and saw the waitress walking towards us again. I felt the nervousness peak in the pit of my stomach and looking at Gerard again only made the butterflies worse. At least I didn't feel queasy anymore.

The waitress took our orders, and walked away, saying she'd be back shortly. When she came back, she raised an eyebrow knowingly at me.

"Are you alright, sir?"

I was startled, to say the least, but I looked back up at her with a smile. "More than."

She placed our drinks on the table and gave me a sceptical look, wrote something on a piece of paper and smiled at me. When she walked away, I opened the slip of paper and looked up at Gerard.

"Can I see?" he said, a small smirk forming on his lips.

"In a moment," I said, taking a deep breath. "I have something more important to tell you."

I glanced at the note again, shoved it in my pocket, and looked back up at him, catching his eyes and getting lost in them for a few moments. They were puzzled, trying to figure out why I was taking another deep breath and reaching into my other pocket.

"Gerard?"

"Yeah, babe, what's going on?" he said, the beginnings of panic laced in his voice.

"Gee," I said softly, calming him down. I took one of his hands in mine over the table, pressing the cool silver ring into his palm, and his eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open slightly.

"You're the love of my life," I said and smiled gently at him. "I'm absolutely sure of it. I love waking up with you every morning, I love sleeping with you in my arms. I love getting lost in those gorgeous eyes of yours, I love watching you draw, I love the way that you trace my tattoos to help me calm me down when I'm stressed, and I love taking care of you when you are. I love how open we are with each other and how I feel comfortable saying anything around you and being truly myself around you. I love everything we do together, I love spending time with you, and I'm confident that I could spend the rest of eternity with you and never get bored for a single moment. So, baby, will you marry me?"

"Oh my god, Frankie," he said, dumbstruck, and I waited for him to regain the ability to speak. "Of course, I'll marry you, oh my god," he looked down at our hands where the ring was and I helped him slip it onto his finger.

He looked at it for a moment, but then his eyes went straight back to me. "Frankie, I love you so much, oh my god," he said under his breath, cupping my cheeks and pulling me into a kiss. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him closer. He broke away from the kiss, and I saw little tears streaming down his face.

"Aw, baby," I murmured, bringing my hands up to his cheeks to wipe away the tears, feeling some of my own starting to well up in my eyes.

"Oh my god, oh my god," he said, running a free hand through his hair, and staring at me with those gorgeous eyes, lovingly, and in shock, happiness practically radiating from him. "You're so fucking amazing," he said, kissing my cheek, and I closed my eyes, grinning like an idiot.

"No, you," I retorted, and he grinned, more tears flowing down his cheeks.

"God, Frankie, you know me so well—you didn't even put it in a box, you're so amazing."

"I know you don't like fancy things," I said quietly, "So I didn't wanna make it too grand. I thought the box would be a little extra." He kissed me again.

"God, how did I get so fucking lucky? This is..." he trailed off, tangling our fingers together. "Christ... I..." he looked at me, desperate for words.

"Are you okay?" I asked, giggling a bit, and he kissed me again quickly.

"Uh no!?" he looked at me shocked. "I'm not o-fucking-kay! The love of my life just proposed to me in a coffee shop at one am on our year and two-month anniversary," he whispered, squeezing our hands and looking down at them to admire the simple silver ring. "I... I love you so much, darling," he said, laying his head on my shoulder.

I wrapped my arm around his waist and he scooted closer to me. I felt a soft kiss being placed on my collarbone and I couldn't help the smile that was plastered on my face.

"I love you too," I said, gushing.

"The ring is perfect, by the way. When did you get the time to get it?"

"Brendon helped me out with it actually. He took me where he got his ring for Ryan. Remember that time I called you saying I'd be late coming home from work?"

"That's when you—that's... that's fucking amazing. I did not see this happening tonight."

"You knew I was going to propose to you?"

"No, I was going to propose to you, but I just hadn't bought a ring yet. I was going to buy one tomorrow actually. Before you woke up."

"I'm glad I did this now, then," I kissed his forehead. "Your reaction was everything I hoped for."

"Frankie," he squeaked. "I hope you know that this is everything I could have hoped for."

I grinned and kissed him again.

"I can't believe I got so lucky," he muttered.

"Baby, we both got lucky. If we hadn't met at that concert, we wouldn't be here right now."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "I think you're forgetting that your best friend is dating my brother."

"True." I hummed, then remembered about the note. "Oh, the lady that served us gave me this, remember?"

He nodded as I pulled it out of my pocket. "That seems like forever ago," he said and I grinned.

I gave it to him and he read it out loud. "'Good luck.' Oh my god, even she knew?"

"I guess she knew what I was going to do," I said, finally taking a drink from my mug. He copied me.

"Damn, this is good coffee."

"Yeah. Told you so," I grinned.

He put his mug down with finality and looked at me seriously. "This has been the best day of my life, and now I'm sitting in a café at one am with my fiancée like nothing happened."

I giggled. "I hope that's a good thing."

"'Good' doesn't even begin to describe it," he murmured into my ear, and we both grinned.


	8. part eight - happy endings

"Frankie, I need you to understand that I really don't give a flying fuck!" Gerard yelled from the bedroom where he was getting changed.

I walked into the bedroom and grinned at him. "What about a walking fuck?"

"Are you asking me to fuck you? Because I will," he grinned back at me and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You're trying to change the subject. I don't want too many people, but how many do you want? Just give me an answer, please?"

"Frankieee," he whined and pulled me closer.

"At least give me a list of the people you want to be there."

"Can't we do that together, baby?"

"Sure. Let's do it right now."

"But I just put my pyjamas on."

"Come with me, let's sit on the couch and put together a guest list, alright?"

"Okay, as long as we can still have it in the apartment?"

"I don't want anything big either, babe. I would love for it to be a small party type thing here, too."

He smiled, and to my surprise, picked me up bridal style and brought me to the sofa in the living room. Setting me on the sofa, he smiled. "I'll get a pen and paper. Stay right here."

"Okay," I said, and soon he was back with exactly that in his hands. "Thanks."

"Anything for you, sweetheart." He patted his lap. "C'mere."

I settled on his lap and smiled when his arms wrapped around my waist loosely. "Okay, so Ray, Mikey, Bob, his girlfriend, both of our parents, my aunt and uncle, yours... what about grandparents?"

"Mine are gone," he said.

"Shit. I'm sorry, babe. It completely slipped my mind. Mine are, too."

He laid his head on mine, indicating it was alright, and to go on listing names. 

I hesitated. "Jamia and Lindsey...?"

His arms tightened around me possessively at the mention of them, and I raised an eyebrow, turning to face him to gauge his reaction. "If you're at all uncomfortable with it, that probably means we shouldn't invite them."

"But Jamia's your friend. Plus, I like her."

"Is Lindsey not your friend?"

He shifted uncomfortably and thought about it. "She is. And I want her to be there."

I smiled, pleased. Perhaps this would take their friendship a step further. I wanted to see them make up, not only for my sake because of Jamia, but because I did genuinely like Lindsey. 

"Great," I murmured and felt Gerard press his lips to the back of my neck, watching me write their names on the list. "Are we forgetting anyone else?"

"I can't really think of anyone. You don't have siblings, as far as I know."

"I might have some long-lost ones, but my parents haven't... oh... Look who's calling."

I picked up my buzzing phone and answered. "Hey, mum, what's up?"

"Hey Frank," she replied. "We have something to tell you."

"Who's we?"

"Your father and me. You're on speaker."

I switched mine to speaker as well. "So are you."

"Great! Is Gerard there?"

"I am, Mrs Iero."

"Goddammit, Gerard, can you please just call me Linda!"

"I keep forgetting," he said nervously. "Sorry, Linda."

"That's more like it," my mother said, and I grinned. "Hey, Frankie, would you FaceTime me? I called because I don't know how to turn on the moving picture."

I chuckled. "Sure thing, mum. Hold on a moment." I hung up and FaceTimed her and she picked up moments later, the image of my mother and father appearing on the screen. I held up my phone so Gerard and I were visible to her.

"Aw, there are my two favourite boys," she gushed and we smiled.

"Hey!" my father said indignantly, smiling himself. "What about me?"

"You're a man, dear," she said and quickly turned her focus back to us. "Anyways, as I was saying, your father and I have news for you," she repeated. Gerard and I smiled, waiting for her to continue. My father took her hand and smiled at her.

"Your mother and I," he began. "We missed having a kid around the house."

My eyes widened. "Wait, but haven't you guys reached infertility?"

"Frank, shut up," my mother said and put her face in her hands. "We're adopting this girl. She's around fifteen, and she's the sweetest little thing. She didn't really have any friends in the adoption centre. She'd not been there for very long because she'd recently lost her foster parents to a car accident. When we met her, she said she really liked us, and since we really liked her too, we decided to adopt her! Her name is Lee. I think you're really going to like her. She's like a small version of you. She plays bass, and she's just as punk as you and your father." She chuckled to herself at this.

"Mum, that's... that's amazing!" I said, grinning.

"Linda, you and your husband are some of the sweetest people I've met. I can tell where your son gets his good qualities from."

My mother and father both grinned and then remembered about something. "How was the concert last night, guys?"

"About that," Gerard said and looked at me. I grinned back at him. "Your son just proposed to me last night."

"What?! Frank why the hell didn't you tell us?" my father cried, shocked, and I cringed away from the screen, a smile still inhabiting my face. "That's amazing, but why didn't we know about this?"

"I—" I paused. "I don't know. It just seemed too formal to tell you about it."

"Frank, dear, you're so stupid," my mother said and grinned at the screen. "You're incredibly intelligent, don't get me wrong, but you... you didn't even think to let us know?"

"I mean, I know you're okay with me dating a guy, but I didn't know if you were okay with me getting married to—"

"Frank, you know we don't care as long as you're happy," my father said sternly.

"Gerard isn't just some guy, either, Frankie. He takes care of you, and you take care of him. I see it. If he was another guy, I don't know how I'd feel about you getting married, but this is Gerard."

"Thanks, guys," I said blushing, and felt Gerard's arms tighten around my waist and his head settle on my shoulder. "We'll be sure to invite my new sister to our wedding."

"It's gonna be small, right, boys? You guys are always like that."

"We wouldn't want it any other way," Gerard said, and I leant my head against his.

***

"Come on in!" I heard Gerard say, and looked away from the dinner I was working on to see my parents stepping through the door with my new sister. I abandoned the carrots and washed my hands, coming over to greet them and my new sister. "It's nice to see you again, Linda, and you too Frank."

"Hey, mum, dad!" I said, giving them hugs.

"You're gonna have to start calling us mum and dad too, Gerard," I heard my mother say, and Gerard laughed.

My mother smiled, looking down at the fifteen-year-old next to her. I looked at the kid, confusion crossing my brow. Maybe they didn't adopt Lee after all. I mean they did say they were adopting a girl, and the kid in front of me definitely wasn't a girl.

"This is Lee," my father said, and I grinned.

"Hey, Lee, it's nice to meet you," I said, looking at the tall brunette. She had short hair, an angular jaw and bright brown eyes. Her smile was a bit too emo and rebellious for her eyes, and this made me grin. She fit right in. "I'm Frank, your brother, and this is my fiancée, Gerard."

She smiled at me and wrapped her arms around me, so I hugged her back.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Frank," she said and gestured to my parents, "These two have told me so much about you."

"Oh, jeez, I hope it's nothing bad," I said, rubbing the back of my neck, and she shook her head. "They've told me a lot about you too. They've been so excited that they get to raise a girl like you."

Her cheeks turned bright red. "Oh, they... uh... didn't tell you about that..."

I looked up at my parents, confused and they both donned looks of realisation. "We didn't tell you... Well, we'll let Lee tell you," my mother said and smiled.

"I go by gender-neutral pronouns, and um... I'm non-binary."

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry, I didn't... That's why you look androgynous. You walked in and I wondered why my parents hadn't adopted the Lee kid they were talking about." My cheeks went bright red and they grinned.

"That's good to hear. At least I pass to someone."

I waved my hand. "I'm sure you pass to a lot of people you don't even know."

Lee's eyes lit up at this, and I felt Gerard squeezing my hand.

"That's cool, Lee. Thanks for telling us. It means a lot," he said, and Lee nodded.

"Thanks for not freaking out."

"Well, I mean, we're both in the community," I gestured to Gerard and myself, "So it'd be weird if we weren't accepting of that kind of thing," I chuckled, and shut the door behind my parents. "Come on in, I was just cooking dinner."

When the oven beeped, I took out the food and put it on the table. Gerard finished setting it, and we all sat down.

"So, uh, Lee, I wanted to ask you something by the way," I said, and they looked up.

"Yeah?"

"You have friends at school, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"Because so far, on the guestlist for our wedding, there aren't really any other people your age, so we were wondering if you wanted to bring a friend along so you wouldn't be lonely and bored the whole time."

They looked shocked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I know how much it sucks being alone at a wedding," Gerard said, cutting into the chicken that I wouldn't be eating. I served myself extra pasta salad. "So, yeah, of course."

Lee grinned and served themselves vegetables, passing the bowl to me. "I'd love to. You guys are great. I like you a lot."

I grinned and glanced at my smiling parents. "I'm glad because I'm starting to be very fond of you too. I've kind of always wanted a sibling."

***

"So, semi-formal attire, right? And you said Ray could marry us?"

"Yeah, he said he'd be down even though he hasn't done it for a while. And yeah, semi-formal. If I have to wear anything more than a button-down shirt, I think we should call this off."

Gerard giggled. "You would never."

"You're right," I said, sighing. "You know I'd do anything to be with you."

"I think we should write a note saying that jeans are appropriate."

"Does that mean I can wear jeans!?" I grinned and felt my eyes lighting up.

"You look the sexiest when you wear jeans, why wouldn't I wanna see you in them on our wedding day?"

I laid my head on Gerard's lap and wrote that down too. "Well, then I know what I'm wearing."

"Oh, but they have to be tight. Like the ones I wore the night that we met."

"Okay, but my arse doesn't look as good in tight jeans as yours does."

He snickered. "That's the biggest motherfucking lie I've ever heard you tell and you know it."

"I never said I wasn't going to wear them," I blushed and he grinned. "Just that I don't look as good as you in them."

"As long as you wear them," he said. "And by the way, just so you know, no one, not even me—"

"Gee, just spit it out," I laughed, and he grinned.

"No one looks as good as you in skinny jeans. Seriously."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay. Done. Now, what about food?"

***

"Hey, hey!" I grinned as my parents walked into the apartment followed by Lee holding a girl's hand in her own. "It's great to see you."

The Misfits were playing softly under the quiet bustle around our apartment as people milled about, talking with each other and catching up. Ray and Mikey were talking to Gerard's parents on our sofa, Gerard and Bob were talking at a table with my aunt and uncle, even Lindsey and Jamia were walking over to join Gerard and Bob talking at a table; everyone was talking to everyone, and everyone was comfortable. There were food, drinks, and snacks out, and people seemed to have served themselves already.

My parents hugged me, saying hellos, and strode over to Gerard and Bob.

"Hey, Lee, it's great to see you again," I said and they grinned. "Who've you brought?"

Lee smiled at me too, squeezing the girl's hand. "This is my girlfriend, Cherry. We go to the same school and all that."

Cherry smiled at me, and I grinned. "It's lovely to meet you, Cherry. I'm Frank," I pointed to Gerard. "And that's my almost-husband, Gerard. You guys can help yourselves to the food and all of that, and tell me if you need anything. Also, I'll take any music requests. Make yourselves at home."

They nodded. "Thanks, bro," Lee said.

"Well, duh, what am I gonna do, be a cold older brother?"

Lee giggled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm supposed to be the rebellious one, not you with your 'wear jeans to my wedding' shebang."

"Hey, I like jeans."

"Maybe too much," Cherry joked, and I crossed my arms at her.

"You're wearing them too, so you can't exactly say much either."

Lee smiled at me. I could tell they liked my approval of their girlfriend.

"Thanks for letting me be here," Cherry said, her joking manner gone, and a shy one replacing it. "It means a lot that you'd let me be here with Lee even though you don't know me."

"It sucks to be the only teenager at a wedding, and I'm glad you're making my sibling happy, so I'm more than happy to have you here. Thanks for coming!"

Lee let go of their girlfriend's hand to hug me. "You're an amazing brother, you know," she said, and I pulled away.

"I try my best." I swear I saw her eyes sparkle. "Now go have fun, and ask me if you need anything."

They nodded and headed off to the food, and I headed to Ray (and of course Mikey).

"Hey, guys, it's good to see you tangled in each other as always. And it's lovely to see you too, Mr and Mrs Way."

"Goddammit, Frank," Mrs Way said, laughing. "At least call me by my first name. 'Mum' would be more than acceptable."

"I—" my cheeks went red. "I'll do my best, mum."

"You say that every time, son," Mr Way says, and I felt my cheeks going redder.

"Yeah, I suppose I do. I'm sorry. Anyways, would it be alright if I borrowed Ray for a second?"

Gerard's parents nodded, and Mikey mocked sadness.

"Uh, Mikes?" I said. "I... uh, hate to break up the moment, but I promise I'll give him right back."

Ray rolled his eyes and smiled at me as Mikey laughed, letting go of Ray's hand. He turned back to talk to his parents and I walked a few steps away.

"You good to go in a few minutes?"

"Yeah, totally. Let me just get my things and you and Gerard can hush the people?"

I nodded. "Where do you wanna do this?"

"I don't care. It's your wedding, dude."

"Is the coffee table good?"

"I think that's perfect for two caffeine addicts to get married on, yeah."

I grinned and squeezed his shoulder. "You know, you really are a godsend, Raymond."

"Call me Raymond one more time and I won't marry you guys," he said, crossing his arms and I laughed as quietly as possible.

"Okay, okay, I got it," I said, and he grinned, walking away to gather his papers and things. I walked away to find Gerard, and I actually found him talking to Cherry and Lee. They were sprawled out on the couch, all seemingly at ease—even Cherry—and I grinned at the sight before walking over and settling on the coffee table in front of them.

"Hey, guys, whatcha talking about?"

"Comics," Cherry said. "Gerard is saying that Marvel movies are better than DC."

I looked at him, genuinely surprised. "All this time that we've been together, how the fuck did this never come up?"

"Are you with these psychos?" he said, his eyes widening comically. "They were teaming up against me and I thought you were coming to save me, but you're actually one of them."

I shook my head. "Watch who you call a psycho, Gee. That's my sibling and their girlfriend. Plus, DC is better, either way. You're the real psycho here."

He pursed his lips, struggling to keep a smirk off his face. "I can't believe it. My own fiancée prefers DC movies."

"I think you're just scared of being called emo," Cherry said. "DC has always been more gothic and ragged in style than Marvel, and you're too scared to rebel. Live a little."

"Hey, I like DC comics better, Marvel movies just automatically win. And besides, at least Marvel characters come from greek mythology and aren't just rich white guys."

Cherry and Lee both rolled their eyes in almost complete unison, and I giggled. "Anyway, guys, I was actually here to say that we should be getting everyone settled down, not riled up—" I glared at Gee, and he shrugged— "Because Ray is getting his things ready for the signing of the legal documents."

He nodded, taking my hand in his. "This," he glanced at the teens. "Isn't over."

I rolled my eyes and smiled at them as Gerard and I walked towards the front of the room. "I'm really glad you guys are getting on so well."

"I love Lee. They have so much raw energy. They're gonna be something one day. And their girlfriend is so sweet and loving. The two of them really make a great pair."

"I need to talk to Cherry a bit more. I really like her too. I can see how happy she makes Lee, and it makes me happy."

Gerard nodded. "Ready?"

I grinned. "As I'll ever be."

"Hey, guys!" Gerard said, raising his voice. A hush slipped around the room and I grinned—I could never get an audience's attention that well.

"We're about ready to actually do the ceremony, so if you guys want to settle on the chairs and sofas, you're welcome to," he continued.

"Ray's getting his things, so we're gonna get started in a few minutes," I added, and Ray came back into the room. "Or, whenever he's ready since he just reappeared." I smiled at him.

I got a few laughs as everyone started settling down, some carrying cups in their hands, some empty-handed. Gerard and I settled down on one side of the couch, scooting the coffee table closer to us, and Ray put some papers down in front of us, sitting across from us on one of the chairs.

"Ready?"

***

"Thanks so much for coming, Mr and Mrs—"

"Frank—"

"Mum and dad—" I corrected myself and my new in-laws grinned "—It really means a lot. Actually, Gerard was a bit scared you wouldn't come. He said he didn't know if you liked the way we were doing things, especially since we're not exactly a traditional couple."

Gerard's mum waved her hand. "He's just referring to the time when he was a kid and we had extremely different opinions about gay couples. When he came out to us, he was scared, but he really did his best educating us about things, and obviously, we want our sons to be happy, so we did our best to keep our minds open and learn. I'm glad he did so, because he moved out before Mikey did, and he really left Mikey a much more accepting and knowledgeable environment to come out in."

"That's incredible that he was able to do that. He told me a lot about how you've changed, and I told him that you'd be alright with things, but he worries."

"Oh, I know. That child worries far too much," Gerard's dad chuckled, looking over at Gerard who was currently hugging Ray, rocking side to side with him. "I wasn't really too concerned about the style of the wedding either. I've met Ray and he's a sap, and I know Mikey is the type for a big white wedding, so I'll get my share of that kind of wedding too. Mikey told us that he's going to propose in a few weeks. I do have to say though; I did quite enjoy the casualness of this. It was super comfortable."

"I'm so glad," I nodded and he grinned at me as Gerard led Ray and Mikey to the door and waved before making his way over to us, slipping his hand in mine. I smiled at the feeling of the cool wedding band on his hand.

I squeezed his hand and hugged his parents once more. He did so too, thanking them for coming over. He settled behind me, hands crawling around my waist.

"We should get going, though," Mrs Way said, glancing up at Gerard and getting a knowing glint in her eyes and a smirk on her lips. "You guys look pretty tired."

"Mm, I'm knocked out," Gerard said, and I felt something against my arse that wasn't there a moment ago. He was already getting hard. I felt my cheeks getting red at Mrs Way's look and nodded.

"Me too. It was lovely seeing you. We should have dinner together again."

Mr Iero opened the door for his wife and she took his arm. "I'm lookin' forward to it, kids. Have fun." He winked, and with that, the last people were swept away and out of the house.

Gerard turned me around and walked me backwards so that my back hit the door. He locked it when we got there, but didn't stop pushing me against it. "I finally get to fucking call you my husband," he said, and I grinned, nodding.

"But I never got to stop calling you my bitch," I said, flipping us around quickly. "However, I like Mr Iero better. It suits you."

"Hey, we kept both of our names!" he said indignantly, smiling anyways.

"I can call you whatever I want. Because remember? You're my bitch."

He blushed. "And you're mine. But let's not talk like that, Mr Iero-Way, because we finally did it."

I grinned, letting my hands settle around his neck, and pulling him off the wall. The music had changed to Bowie some time ago at Cherry's request, and we started swaying to it, his hands settling on my hips.

"I'm so happy," I said, bringing our lips together sweetly.

"I love you so much, Frankie," Gerard mumbled against my lips.

"And I love you too, my darling husband."

Gerard giggled, pulling me in for another kiss, but pulling away quickly, resting our heads together.

"I uh... I drew a bath for us a few minutes ago. Go ahead in, I'll be there in a few minutes. It's the bathroom in our bedroom."

I nodded, my cheeks gaining more colour and more heat. "You know, Gee—" I let my hands settle at his waist too, one of them making their way further down and squeezing his arse. "You're really the greatest."

He squeaked at my actions and kissed me again. "Bastard."

I giggled, nipping at his lip too before drawing away from him. "Oh, you love me."

He smirked at me. "Why else would I marry you, dumbarse?"

I giggled, walking back to our bedroom and taking my clothes off, throwing them in the hamper. I opened the door of the bathroom and turned on the light, gasping. The water was a cool rose colour, and there were a few rose petals on the floor and the counter where the sink was, a few candles already burning, a soft sweet scent filling the air. I cried out softly when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind.

"Gee, baby, this is so..." I paused, unable to come up with words to describe the amazement and beauty I found in it. "So thoughtful and pretty."

He kissed my jaw softly and I hummed. "Don't flatter me, Frankie, it was easy to do and I knew you would like it. You're soft at heart."

"Mm, I am." Turning around, I nestled my head into the crook of his neck. "You're too much, Gee. I love it."

"I know, sweetheart," he giggled, kissed my forehead, and I nodded. "The water's gonna get cold if we don't actually use it, baby," he purred.

I made my way to the water, holding his hand and tugging him along. He got in first and pulled me in after him. He settled me between his legs and started placing gentle kisses on my neck. I laid my head back, feeling him growing harder beneath me, and pressed my arse into his hips. I felt him gasp, and I turned my head up to kiss him.

"You like that don't you, Gee," I said, pressing my hips farther into his, and he moaned, pulling me harder against him.

"Mhm, I do, baby," he said, his voice sweet and innocent, and I felt myself blushing. I was going to make this sweet and special. We had all the time in the world to do naughty, kinky things, but tonight I was going to treat him like the angel he was.

"Frankie, are you gonna fuck me?"

"No." I ran my hand up his thigh in the warm water, turning around so I was on top of him to kiss him. "I'm gonna make love to you, Gee."

He sighed beneath me and smiled. "There are condoms in that box."

I pulled one out and rolled it onto myself. "Spread your legs for me, baby. I need to prep you."

He moaned softly and did as I said, his pale legs falling open under me in the limited space of the bathtub. "On second thought," I said, and he blushed, shutting his legs suddenly. "Would you like to take this somewhere else? I don't think we have room here, darling."

He nodded, and we got out, drying ourselves off, and I picked him up, placing kisses on his neck as I carried him out of the bathroom and into our bedroom. I placed him on the bed and he sighed, wrapping his legs around my waist. I reached for the lube, and ran my hands up his legs, gently prying them off of me, legging them fall on the bed. He moaned at this and ran his fingers through my hair.

"I'm going to prep you. Ready baby?"

He nodded, and I spread lube on my fingers, gently pushing one into him. He groaned and gripped my hair harder. When I felt he was used to one, I pressed another in, this time earning a moan.

"R-right there!" he cried out, and I smiled, kissing his chest. I scissored my fingers a little bit, letting the muscle relax against my fingers. When two was comfortable, I added a third, pushing into his prostate again, making him moan.

"B-babe, I'm going to come if you keep d-doing that!" he gasped and I pulled out of him, getting more lube onto my fingers and spreading it around him and then around the condom I still had on. I lined myself up with him.

"Ready, Gee?"

He nodded, so I slowly pushed into him. I eared a groan of pain at once so I placed kisses on his neck, comforting him a little bit because oh god, he felt so good.

"Y-you're so tight," I gasped as I bottomed out and stopped moving, letting Gerard get used to me.

"M-move, baby," he said when he was ready, and I did so, starting off agonizingly slowly and getting faster. "F-feels good," he moaned when I knew I'd hit his prostate. "R-right there."

I nodded and kept at it, pushing myself again and again into where I was until he moaned loudly.

"I'm gonna—"

"Me too," I moaned as I continued pressing in and out of him. Soon enough, I felt Gee release all over both of our chests, and this sent me over the edge as well, moaning his name as I came into the condom. I pulled out of him and threw the condom away, then flopped back onto his chest.

"I love you, Frankie," he whispered, and I kissed his chest where my head lay.

"I love you too."

Gerard's fingers tangled in my hair again, softly stroking through it. "We should take a shower before we fall asleep," he murmured sleepily and I nodded.

"We should, but you're so comfortable."

He giggled. "Come on. Get up," and pushed me off of him by sitting up.

"Make me."

"Okay," he said simply, picking me up and carrying me to the bathroom. He set me down on the counter and stroked my cheek. He turned away then and started draining the bath and then sitting on the edge of the bathtub, looking back up at me.

"Gee," I whined, and held my arms up. "C'mere."

He shook his head. "You're gonna drag us back to bed. I know it."

"You know me too well," I chuckled, and he shrugged.

"Good." The bathtub had drained, so at this point, he turned on the shower and we waited for it to warm up. He stood up and walked over to me, and stood in between my legs. He tucked some hair behind my ear and brought me in for a chaste kiss.

"I'm so happy, Frankie," he mumbled against my lips, and I pulled away, resting our foreheads against each other's.

"Me too, babe. I can't believe get to be with you forever."

He nodded, grinning, and pulled me off the counter and into the shower, cupping my cheek in his hand. "And this is a great start to forever."

fin.


End file.
